


Demigods at Hogwarts

by Phoenix_Allura (Artemis_Autumn_Marie)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Abused Harry Potter, Abused Leo Valdez, Abused Percy Jackson, Angst, Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter (Percy Jackson), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hogwarts, Hurt Percy Jackson, Hurt/Comfort, Kind of non-canon Jason Grace, M/M, Maybe rape/non-con elements, Multi, Other, POC Percy Jackson, Percy uses they/them pronouns, The rape/non-con depends on how far the abuse goes, fred weasley - Freeform, it's only implied but still gotta tag stuff, some torture, there we go, um i forgot to tag this for months oops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-23 07:57:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 46,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8320000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Autumn_Marie/pseuds/Phoenix_Allura
Summary: Ten demigods are going on a quest, this time to Hogwarts. They're going in blind, and have no idea what the place is like or who they'll meet.Hermione and Harry are pursing tentive relationships. Ron is grieving his brother's death, coming to terms with a few things, and helping George with his shop.What shenanigans will ensue? Read to find out. Cross posted from Wattpad.





	1. Details

Percy Jackson

Gender: Genderfluid demiboy. 

Pronouns: They/them

Sexuality: Asexual

Romantic: Pan

Dating: Annabeth Chase

Blood Status: Demigod

Other Facts: Wizarden

Annabeth Chase

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Pan

Romantic: Pan

Dating: Percy Jackson

Blood Status: Demigod

Frank Zhang

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/him

Sexuality: Hetero

Dating: Hazel Levesque

Blood Status: Demigod

Hazel Levesque

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Hetero

Dating: Frank Zhang 

Blood Status: Demigod

Other facts: Witch, Mist user

Jason Grace

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Hetero

Dating: Piper McLean

Blood Status: Demigod

Piper McLean

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bi

Dating: Jason Grace

Blood Status: Demigod

Thalia

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Homo

Flirting: Reyna

Blood Status: Demigod

Other Facts: Mist user

Reyna 

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bi

Flirting: Thalia

Blood Status: Demigod

Other Facts: Witch

Leo Valdez

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Hetero

Flirting/Dating: Calypso

Blood Status: Demigod

Other Facts: Wizard

Calypso

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Hetero

Flirting/Dating: Leo Valdez

Blood Status: Child of a Titan/Goddess

Other Facts: Magic user

Clarisse

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Hetero

Dating: Chris Rodriguez

Blood Status: Demigod

Nico DiAngelo

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Homo

Dating: Will Solace

Blood Status: Demigod

Will Solace

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Homo

Dating: Nico DiAngelo

Blood Status: Demigod

Harry Potter

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Bi

Dating: Draco Malfoy

Blood Status: Half-Blood

Draco Malfoy

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Bi

Dating: Harry Potter

Blood Status: Demigod

Other Facts: Wizard

Luna Lovegood

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bi

Dating: Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger

Blood Status: Demigod

Other Facts: Witch

Ginny Weasley

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bi

Dating: Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger

Blood Status: Pureblood

Hermione Granger

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bi

Dating: Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley

Blood Status: Muggle Born

Ron Weasley

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Hetero

Blood Status: Pureblood

Occupation: Helping George at his shop on weekends

Fred Weasley

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Asexual

Blood Status: Pureblood

Occupation: Helping people pull pranks at Hogwarts, giving advice, and giving Ron and George ideas

Neville Longbottom

Gender: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Asexual

Blood Status: Demigod

Other Facts: Wizard


	2. Chapter 1: Another Quest

[Jason's POV]

Piper and I had been called back from LA, something about a new quest. Will and Nico were sitting next to us, and opposite us were Leo and Calypso. From what I knew, Percy and Annabeth were finishing their school day then coming in, and Frank and Hazel would be here soon. I don't see why we had to get here so fast if all were going to be doing is waiting for the time being, but it's nice to catch up with Leo, Calypso, Will and Nico. 

[Annabeth's POV]

We told Chiron that we had to finish our school day and then we'd come in, and he didn't say no, because it'll be at least two and half hours before Frank and Hazel reach camp. Really, we're finishing dessert- a chocolate cake with cherry filling- before leaving. Today was a half day, and we'd been looking forward to this date for while. I finished my second piece of cake and stole a bite of Percy's. They just grinned at me, teeth black and red. I laughed at them and enjoyed the bite of cake as Percy finished up. 

"They're going to ask, Annabeth." Percy said as we were walking out of the restaurant, our fingers linked messily between us. Today, they're wearing a teal skirt and a white blouse, but the only people who know that Percy is a genderfluid demiboy are Sally, Paul, Thalia, Reyna, Nico, Will, Clarisse, Chiron and I. 

"And we'll explain, Percy. Chances are they'll be very understanding, and Thalia and Nico will be there. You know they'll beat anyone who says anything up." Percy looked reassured and we continued on our way to Sally's, to let her know that we were going on another quest and might not see her for some time. 

"Hey mom." Percy opened the door and the smell of cookies- blue cookies, as always- greeted us. "Hey you two! What's wrong?" She set a plate of cookies in front of us, and we each took one. 

"We have to go on another quest. We haven't been to camp yet so we don't know for how long or even where we're going." I explained quietly. 

"Oh." Sally looked at us. "Well, both of you stay safe, and Percy? Please try not kidnap anyone this time." We all laughed at that. I still couldn't believe that the press had thought that Percy had kidnapped Grover and I. 

"Don't worry, I won't." Percy promised, reaching over to hug Sally. She walked out from behind the counter and hugged us both, kissing us on the cheek. "Have fun and stay safe." Percy and I just smiled and said goodbye. 

[Hazel's POV] 

We arrived at Camp Half-Blood an hour ahead of schedule, to find everyone there but Percy, Annabeth and Thalia. 

"Percy and Annabeth should be here soon; they're picking Thalia up on the way. A few minutes later, the three of them walked in, talking and laughing, Percy and Annabeth's hands entwined and Thalia with an arm around Percy's shoulders. 

They stopped, though, when Jason asked, "Percy, what are you wearing?" I hadn't even noticed the skirt and blouse until now, and I was ready to ask the same question. 

"I'm a genderfluid demiboy, which means that I'm a boy, but I'm also something else, and genderfluid is that something else. I use they/them pronouns." I stood up, and so did Piper. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Thalia tensing up, as if ready to fight if need be. But instead, Piper and I just hugged Percy because he- they are our friend and they are who they're meant to be. 

"Percy, where did you get that skirt, because it's cute and I want one." Leo said. We all looked at him. "What? Your gender doesn't determine what you wear, you know." Chiron chose that moment to walk in with Clarisse. Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Clarisse sat down next to Nico. Frank and I were across from Will and Nico.

"The twelve of you have been chosen for a special quest. You will be going to Hogwarts, a wizarding school in Scotland. Hecate will explain it to you in more detail." 

We all closed our eyes as Hecate flashed in. 

"Lady Hecate." We greeted, Clarisse, Thalia, Nico, Will, Annabeth and Percy were strangely almost in unison. Percy spoke less than a half second later, almost with Frank and I. Jason and Piper were a half second after us, and Leo and Calypso a half second behind them. 

"Around four hundred years ago, I gifted of the families of Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin with magic. They were the first in Scotland to be given magic, and they founded Hogwarts, a school for their children and all wizarding children to attend. Soon, they had children coming to Hogwarts from England and other countries in Europe. Some of those children married muggles and informed them of the wizarding world, and had half-blooded children- half muggle, half wizard. Eventually, the wizards spread out, and of course there are the children who are muggle-born, and, to the wizards, get their magic from seemingly nowhere. You will be attending this school. They have just finished a war themselves. When you reach Hogwarts, you will be Sorted just as any other student would. Although term does not start until the first of September, you will leave in two days to learn magic from a few demiwizards, as we'll call them. Luna Lovegood, daughter of Athena and my granddaughter. Neville Longbottom, son of Demeter. Draco Malfoy, son of Hermes, grandson of Athena and my great-great-grandson. Your headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, is my daughter. Your friend Reyna is a daughter of Bellona, and a witch, due both to genes and her time on Circe's island. She'll meet you at Hogwarts. Hazel, your mother was squib of a well off pure blood family. She left in disgrace, and you are a witch. Being able to manipulate the Mist only makes it easier for you. Leo, you are a wizard, a muggle-born. Percy, your mother is a muggle-born witch. Her uncle would not allow her to attend any school to learn magic, but she has been learning lately. Calypso, your being a sorceress gives you an advantage. Thalia, as I said, the knowing how to use the Mist is very helpful in this situation. Any questions?" Hecate looked at all of us. When no one said anything, she said, "Alright then. I'll see you all in two days." We all covered our eyes as Hecate flashed out. Then we all started talking a once. "Percy, explain why-" "What do you think the architecture will-" "We're going to Scotland!" I shared a look with Frank. Annabeth was talking with Clarisse, Thalia, and Nico, but all of them were on guard, watching Percy and Jason talk. Piper was talking to Calypso. Leo was also watching Percy and Jason. When Jason didn't let up, didn't stop asking Percy why he- they- were different, what had happened, Leo went over, slinging an arm around Percy's shoulders. 

"Seriously, Perce, you gotta tell me where you got the skirt. It's cute, and looks good on you." 

"Leo, why are you acting this way?" Jason questioned. 

"What way, Jason? I'm just telling them that I think their skirt is cute, and that I want to know where they got it because I want one myself. After all, your gender doesn't determine what you wear, you do." Leo just stared Jason down, not stopping until he backed away. Annabeth put a hand on Percy's back, and they smiled at her. "We're going to go pack." Thalia and Clarisse nodded in agreement, and we all filed out of the room, still talking and laughing. Frank and I shared a look. While Jason and Piper had brought enough for the rest of the summer with them, we had only brought about a week's worth of clothes. 

"We have to go back to New Rome, pick up some more clothes." Frank said.

[Percy's POV]

"Annabeth, we can pack later. I'm betting that Frank and Hazel didn't bring as many clothes as they'll need, and besides, I want to pick up a few things from Mom's. We can borrow one of the chariots and be back before the campfire." I turned my puppy-dog eyes on her, and she sighed. "Alright Percy. But you know you can't avoid Jason forever. You'll have to talk to him eventually." I kissed her on the cheek and walked over to Hazel and Frank. 

"Hey Percy."

"Hey. Let me guess, you don't bring enough clothes? Annabeth's going to get permission to borrow one of the chariots and we'll take you to New Rome. After that, we're stopping at Mom's. I want to pick up a few things." 

Hazel hugged me. "Thanks, Percy." I grinned at her, and turned when I felt a hand on my shoulder. 

"Percy, do you think we could talk in private for a minute?" Jason asked. 

"Percy and Annabeth are taking us to New Rome so we can pack, but we'll be back later. Maybe then, Jason." Hazel said. Jason stepped back. "Okay. I'll see later you guys later then." 

Annabeth came back then. "We just have to find two pegasi willing to fly us, and we're good to go." 

[Hazel's POV]

We headed down to the stables, where Percy instantly went to a black pegasus. "This is Blackjack. He's my pegasus. Porkie? You want to help?" The two pegasi stepped out of their stalls, and Percy hitched them to the chariot. I remembered when they did that during our quest, after Hylla had totally not let us go. Percy lead the pegasi over to the hill, right next to Athena. The statue seemed to be glowing, which honestly wouldn't really surprise me at this point. Percy climbed in, taking the reins in one hand and helping Annabeth in with the other. She smiled them, and they smiled back. Frank stepped in, and I took his hand and held it as we took off. Annabeth gestured for us to sit down, and we did. Percy remained standing, and Annabeth sat across from us. I laid my head on Frank's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around me. We chatted about school and how the camps were doing. Annabeth's eyes lit up when she talked about how she was going to school with Percy now.

"We might go to college in New Rome, but Percy's got a couple of scholarship offers and so do I, so it all depends."

"I've been catching up on pop culture and was planning on attending a school near Camp Jupiter, but that'll have to wait now." I said.

"Well, between all of us and the students at Hogwarts, we should be able to get you caught up on pop culture, and I can tutor you in the subjects that are taught in schools these days." Annabeth told me. 

"Thanks, Annabeth. I hadn't even thought of that, but I guess I will need to be caught up on the current school subjects too." Percy turned to us, one hand still holding the reins, the other resting by hi- their side. "Good news, everyone. The skies are clear, and at this rate we'll reach Camp Jupiter before three. We've still got a two hour flight, though. No, Blackjack, you can't fly full speed, that would be bad." Percy said as they turned their attention back to the sky. We sat and talked, telling stories about how things had been going. Annabeth told us that she had gone to see her cousin, Magnus Chase, in Boston, and that while she was gone, Apollo had been turned human, met a daughter of Demeter named Meg, and gone to Percy for help. Percy had been taking them to camp when they'd been attacked, so Percy dealt with the police and Meg and Apollo had gone on to camp. Apollo was on a quest now. 

"Well, I don't think we can top that. The worst thing that happened at Camp Jupiter was that a little kid, maybe five, somehow got a Molotov cocktail and blew up the forum." Frank said, laughing. Annabeth smiled, then glanced at Percy before standing. She murmured something to them, and they nodded, taking Annabeth's place on the bench. The wind had picked up, but I hadn't noticed it until now.

"Zeus doesn't like that I'm flying. He won't do anything about, really can't now, but that doesn't mean he has to like it." Percy looked at us. 

"So, what was the situation with the Molotov cocktail?" Frank began to explain it again, with more detail this time, and soon enough Percy was laughing. 

"No one was hurt, just surprised, so in the end the kid just got scolded and then his punishment was left to his parents." Frank finished. 

"We're here, so hold on while we land." Annabeth called back to us. Percy stood up, seeming to communicate with Blackjack and Porkie. Percy remained standing, and after we landed, just hopped over the side. Annabeth shook her head and followed. Frank and I just stepped to the ground. I took the lead, and Frank took my hand. Percy and Annabeth followed us, talking in low voices, hands swinging between them. I went to the bunks, and Frank went to his cabin. I packed quickly, especially when Annabeth came in to help. I had no idea where Percy had gone, but I had to assume it was with Frank. 

"Percy's out with Blackjack and Porkie. They did go help Frank, but a couple of fauns tried messing with them. Did you know that Reyna had contacted Hylla? She's here now, and she's going to help for a few weeks and check in every once in a while." Annabeth walked over to the door and looked out. "Looks like Frank and Percy are talking to her now." I looked at my bag, and determined that I had enough. We headed over to meet Frank and Percy. 

"Hey, Hazel, Frank." Hylla greeted us with a polite nod. 

"Thanks for the offer, Hylla, but we really have to get going. We have to get back to New York before it gets too late." Percy said, stepping into the chariot. Annabeth smiled at Hylla, "It was nice seeing you again, but we really have to go." Hylla shook all of their hands and then they were on their way. We were silent this time, until we reached the roof of an apartment building. Percy and Annabeth jumped down, then turned to us. "You can stay up here if you want to, or you can come meet my mom." Percy said, looking a little shy. 

"Of course we'll come meet your mom, Percy." I smiled at them gently. They smiled gratefully, and lead the way in. 

"Percy! Annabeth! It's good to see you. And who's this?" 

"Mom, this is Frank and Hazel. Frank, Hazel, this is my mom, Sally. They're going on the quest with us." 

"Well, I've got dinner ready, and there's enough for all of you, and then you can get what you need, Percy." 

"Thanks Mom." Percy kissed Sally on the cheek, and then we sat down to dinner. While it was delicious, and we got to meet Percy's step-father, Paul, all four of us were distracted during dinner. Percy kept glancing around, and even though Annabeth was holding their hand, whispering to them, they didn't stop. After dinner, Percy went to their room, and came out a few minutes with a navy blue bag. We were on the roof before Annabeth explained. 

"There are clothes in there, yes, and weapons, but Percy has something else in there. I don't know what it is, but Sally does, and she says it's important, but won't tell me anything else. I think, personally, that it might be letters to all of us if something happens to Percy. It's the sort of thing they would do. Either that or an engagement ring." Annabeth glanced at Percy, who was sitting on a bench in the chariot. Annabeth climbed in, sitting next to them and taking their hand. They touched foreheads and murmured to each other. I glanced at Frank. When we had last seen them, they didn't like to be apart, not after Tartarus, and that through they'd gotten better about, they still didn't like it. And it was likely they'd both been having nightmares. It made me wonder how much they'd been sleeping lately. Jason probably wasn't helping. 

"Guys, we've got to get back to camp." Annabeth said softly, looking at us then back at Percy. She stood up and took the reins, letting Percy rest. Frank and I climbed in, and we headed back to camp. 

 

                                                                             Word Count: 2800

                    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to something that was born inside of my insane mind. I hope that you enjoy it. Due to the fact that I am starting school on September sixth, as well as driver's training, it is likely that there will not be many updates. I will update when I have more than 2500 words written. I don't have my tablet right now, because it's being fixed, so I'm on a computer and I don't have access to it all the time. When I get my tablet back, updates may be more frequent. It depends on the amount of homework I have. 

Thank you for reading, 

Phoenix-Sage

*Note: I realize that it is past September sixth. I have starts school (I'm a high schooler, yay). Feel free to leave me constructive critism, and kudos are welcome any time.


	3. Chapter 2: PTSD and Self-Doubt

[Percy’s POV]  
When we got back to camp, I slung my bag over my shoulder and took Blackjack and Porkie to the stables. I stayed there for a few minutes after I got them unhitched and in their stalls, both munching on apples and grain. I didn’t realize how long I’d been there until I felt a hand on my back.  
“Let’s go to the campfire, Percy.” I didn’t respond.  
“Are you worried about Jason?” I shook my head. I turned to look at her, and saw that her beautiful eyes were worried. About me. She shouldn’t be, I don’t deserve it.  
“I’m going to put this in my cabin. I’ll meet you at the campfire.” I kissed her briefly, then went to my cabin, letting the smell of ocean wash over me. Maybe after a couple of days here with Annabeth and my friends I’ll feel better. I exited cabin three, only to find Annabeth waiting for me. I took her hand. “Hey Wisegirl.” She looked at me, still clearly worried. “I’m fine, Beth. A day here and I’ll be fine, anyway. It’s just that it seems that we just got back, and I thought we were done with quests. I don’t want to leave Mom so soon, not again, and not for so long. At least this time she knows where we’re going.” Annabeth studied me.  
“It’s not just that, Percy. I can tell. But you’re not going to tell, not now anyway, so I’ll leave it for now. When you feel ready to tell me, do it. I don’t care if it’s three in the morning or three in the afternoon.”  
“I will, Beth.” I promised, letting her lead me to campfire, which was low and getting lower. I hadn’t seen it this low since Tantalus. Then I heard Jason talking. He was bothering the Stoll brothers.  
“What’s with Percy? I mean, what is he doing, dressing that way?”  
Connor turned to him. “Jason, we’ve told you, Percy uses they/them pronouns, as I’m sure they told you themself, so use the correct pronouns. And Percy dresses that way because they like it. It makes them feel good. It’s who they are. Nico told us that you were the first person to find out that he’s gay, and that you were great about it. Why can’t you be the same way with Percy?” Jason went silent, clearly thinking. When Thalia saw us, she gestured for us to join her, and we did.  
“So, any good stories? How’s Mom and Paul? Is the baby okay?”  
“I don’t have any stories right now, but you can ask Frank. He’s got a good one. Mom and Paul are fine. The baby’s fine.” I told her.  
“That’s good.” Thalia turned and yelled across the fire. “Hey, Frank! Percy says that you have stories, so tell them!” Frank looked little disgruntled at first, but then Hazel nudged him and he told the story about the Molotov cocktail. Ater that, everyone else joined in, some making up stories. I turned to Thalia.  
“Mom said that if possible, she’d like you and Reyna to visit over Christmas, and she’s invited Hazel and Frank to come too. I’m pretty sure she wants to adopt Hazel too.” I said, laughing slightly.  
“I don’t know if Reyna will be able to come, because she’s got plans to go to New Rome, and Frank might get dragged with her. We’re going to need a bigger apartment though.” Thalia said, completely straight faced.  
“Yeah, we will, but with the money from Mom’s book and Paul’s teaching, it shouldn’t be long.” I said.  
“Has Artemis said if she’s going to let you come to school with us next year? You’re nearly caught up.” Annabeth asked.  
“Yeah, she said it’s alright, as long as I go to school with you two and stay out of trouble. Mom has to okay it yet though. I haven’t even mentioned it to her. I didn’t want to get her hopes up in case Artemis said no.”  
“She’ll say yes.” I told her.  
“Thalia, why do you keep saying Mom? I thought that our mother was dead.” Jason asked.  
“Our biological mother is dead, Jason. But Sally Jackson and her husband, Paul Blofis, adopted me. Artemis said it was alright, and I live with them when I’m not on a hunt, quest, or here, just like Percy.”  
“Oh.” Jason walked away, clearly unhappy with the answer.  
“I’m going to bed, and you two should too. You need the sleep.” Thalia got up and headed for Cabin Eight. Annabeth stood, offering me her hand. I took it, rising.  
“Let’s go to your cabin.” I hoped that there would be no nightmares tonight. The worst ones have me waking up screaming, but the other ones I usually just wake up when it gets too bad. It’s the same with Annabeth. They’re better when we’re with each other.  
“I’m going to change, and then if you want to shower you can.” Annabeth headed for the bathroom, and I pulled out pajamas. She came out a few minutes later, and I showered and changed quickly. I turned off the bathroom light on my way out. I sat next to Annabeth on the bunks that we’d pushed together to make a nice sized bed, big enough for both of us. I kissed her lips before turning off the light and curling into her arms, resting my head on her chest. I felt her lips press against my skull, then her hand running through my hair. I grabbed her free hand and rubbed circles on it with my thumb. I drifted off feeling light.  
I woke up to quiet rustling, and rolled over, watching Annabeth as she packed. She had a trunk made of what looked like to be brich wood. I lay there, mostly asleep, and barely registering that she was packing my clothes. I sat up, yawning, and raised my arms over my head. Annabeth glanced up. “Morning, Percy.”  
“Morning.” I pushed off the bed and stood. “Why are you packing for me?” I asked, wrapping my arms loosely around her waist.  
“Because otherwise you'd wait until last minute and you know it. Besides, if we get packed up early, the more time we can spend together.” I nodded against her neck sleepily, then pulled away and helped her pack. She had already packed her belongings. Just before the horn blew, we exited my cabin, and then parted ways, going to our separate tables. Thalia joined me at mine, and Nico sat with Will. This left Jason alone, looking kind of awkward, at the table reserved for children of Zeus, or, in his case, Jupiter.  
I looked at Thalia. “Shouldn't you be sitting with Jason? I mean, I know you sit here with me when we're both here, and at Artemis’ table when I'm not, but-” Thalia cut me off. “Jason's my brother, but at the moment he's being an ass, and you're clearly not okay. I know it's not all Jason, but still.” She squeezed my hand before continuing. “Besides, you're my sibling just as much as Jason is, and I care about you. You're one of my best friends.” I just smiled softly at her, and looked down at my food. I took a few bites, then moved the rest around on my plate. I knew that Thalia was watching me as she ate her food. A few minutes after she had finished, she wrapped an arm around my shoulders.  
“You have to eat, Percy. You're still gaining weight back from Tartarus, and barely eating isn't going to help you.” I peered up at her through my eyelashes, taking a few more bites of food. I had eaten about half of my plate now, and Thalia seemed satisfied, at least, and changed the subject. “Annabeth and I were planning to train a little before Capture the Flag. Why don't you join us?” I nodded; I wasn't feeling up to talking at the moment. 

[Leo’s POV]  
I had noticed that Percy was looking a little down during breakfast, so I decided to go talk to hi- them.  
“Hey Perce! What's up?”  
“Hey Leo! I'm going to train with Thalia and Annabeth, do you want to join?”  
“Sure. It's not like they could be both kill me or anything.” Percy laughed and stood up, patting me on the shoulder. “Don't worry, Leo, you can train with me. I know that you usually use your fire, a hammer, or one of your inventions, but I'm thinking that we could get you a sword or dagger. If it's a dagger, Annabeth will be able to teach you better than I can.”  
“Hey! I happen to like my fire and hammer and inventions! But it would probably be good to be able to fight using something else. I think that I'm going to have to go with a sword, though.” Percy grinned at me. “Then I'll teach you how to use one.”


	4. Chapter 3: The Hogwarts Letters

[Hermione’s POV]

“Boys! Our letters have arrived!” Harry poked his head out of the bathroom.   
“Isn’t it a bit early for Hogwarts letters?” He asked, walking down the stairs.   
“It is, I have to admit, and they're quite a bit thicker this year than I remember them being.” Harry walked over and took his letter from one of the owls on the windowsill. Ron walked down the stairs, munching on an apple.   
“It’s bloody early for Hogwarts letters.” Ron took his and opened it, skimming over it quickly. “I'll read mine in depth later. I'm helping George at the shop today.”   
“We'll see you later, Ron.” Harry said, patting him on the back. Harry opened his, and read the first part out loud.  
“Dear Mr. Potter,  
We are pleased to inform you that the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has decided to extend an invitation to the seventh year students who have yet to complete their magical education, as was previously impossible due to the events of the Second Wizarding War. Enclosed is a packet including necessary information should you return, as well as a list of books and equipment. As usual, the term begins on the 1st of September and your owl can be no later than July 31st.  
Yours,  
Minerva McGonagall  
Headmistress.”   
Harry paused for moment. “I wonder what could be so important we need an entire packet on it.”   
“We’ll find out when it comes to that. I wish I knew for sure that Ron will be attending with us. With his helping George out so much…” I trailed off.   
“I'm sure he will. I heard him talking to Molly the other day, and I think that the plan is for Ron to attend Hogwarts, but help George on the weekends and holidays.” I nodded, feeling a little better. Even though we had never started dating - when we kissed we both knew it wasn't for us- we’re still friends and I'd like to have at least one normal year with all of my friends. I opened my letter and took out the packet. The parchment read:   
“We are pleased to inform you that we will be hosting some guest students from America this year. These students, aged between 14-17, will be attending your classes with you. They will be Sorted with the First Years, but have their own separate rooms within their House. If you wish, you can find more details on the inside of this packet.”   
“Well, this is strange. Why would we only be hosting American students now? Why didn't this start earlier?” Harry asked, looking confused.   
“I'm not sure. Maybe with everything going on here they didn't want their students to get involved. Maybe we just now found out about each other. There are multiple logical reasons that are totally plausible.” I responded, going over everything in my head.   
“I say that we look at the packet with Ron, and just go over our list of equipment an books for now.” Harry said, already pulling the list out. I got mine out and started to read.

Uniform:  
1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
3\. One winter cloak (black with silver fastenings)  
4\. Three white shirts for boys or blouses for girls  
5\. Two grey sweaters, vests and cardigans  
6\. Two pairs of trousers for boys, or skirts for girls  
7\. Three pairs of white knee socks or black wool stockings for girls, or black ankle socks for boys.  
8\. One set of dress robes (any colour, conservative style) or a dress/preferred appropriate clothing

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

Required Textbooks  
Note: This is a list should you be taking every class available to you. It is recommended that you get books on only the subjects you plan on taking.  
Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage  
Futhark Magic: A Study of Ancient Runes  
The Advanced Arithmancer's Handbook  
Advanced Creature Care  
Advanced Herbology Edition Nine  
The Standard Book of Spells Grade 7 by Miranda Goshawk  
Egyptian Origins: Magic of the Ancients by Fauna Smethwyck  
Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration   
Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms   
A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions   
The Dueler's Art

Note: For NEWT students, sixth year textbooks are also required for NEWT level revision.

Other Equipment:  
Note: Again, it is recommended that you get the equipment needed for the classes you plan on taking.  
1 wand  
2 cauldrons of your choice, sized four and one  
1 set crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass or silver scales   
1 advanced potions ingredients kit  
1 set of protective gloves  
Quills   
Inks  
Parchment  
Blank Journal   
Muggle Pencil or Pen if taking Muggle Studies  
1 Abacus   
Lunarscope  
Crystal Ball  
Rune Set

Students may also bring one familiar and/or one pet, whichever is to your liking. Having both is acceptable, but not recommended. Approved familiars are:

Toad  
Cat  
Pygmy Puff  
Owl

Familars will attend your classes with you. Pets will not.

Ginny ran inside then, pulling Luna with her, their red and blond hair streaming behind them. “Ron told us on his way into the shop that our letters were here. George Apparated us.” They grabbed their letters and went up to our room, both kissing me on the cheek as they passed.  
Another owl landed on the sill, then flew to Harry's shoulder and nuzzled him. Harry smiled softly and took the letter. He read, his smile getting bigger as he did.  
“Draco’s invited me to stay the rest of the summer with him. He says that before we go to Diagon Alley, all of you can come spend and spend the night.” Harry smiled at the letter again. A few days after Draco had run to Harry when we found out he was alive, shouting ‘Potter’, the two of them went to Hogsmeade to have a butterbeer and talk. Ginny, Luna, and I had been a few tables away, and Narcissa had dropped by for a while, but they actually didn't kill each other. They kept meeting up over the summer, and got together just a few weeks ago.   
“Oh! I have something from Narcissa as well. She says that she’s excited to see all of us again. I'd better write them both back, to tell them that I'll be staying there. Will you guys come visit, please? I mean, chances are we'll visit here, as well, but…”  
I smiled gently at him. “I don't know if Ron will be able, but I'll come if I can, and I'll talk to Ginny and Luna about it too.”   
“Thanks, Hermione.” Harry gave me a one-armed hug, then went upstairs to the room he shares with Ron. The owl stayed on his shoulder. I stayed at the table for a few more minutes, thinking, until Luna and Ginny came down.   
“Hey, ‘Mione.” Luna wrapped her thin arms around my waist and settled her head on my back. Ginny leaned against my side, looking up at me almost nervously. “I-we- were wondering if you'd take us to a movie theater, as you called it. We want to see something that you grew up with, and it sounds fun. Also, I've been reading a few of the muggle books you have, and sometimes the characters go on dates to the movies?” I grinned at the youngest of girlfriends. “Of course I'll take you to a movie theater. We can also visit the flat I have, later, and rent some movies and watch them there.” I promised, watching her eyes grow wide. Luna pressed up against my other side now, and said, “That'd be great.”


	5. Chapter 4: A Half Day At CHB

[Piper’s POV]  
When I woke up, there was trunk sitting at the foot of my bed. I stretched and stood up, then took a good look at it, opening it up. A deep brown with gold and pink seams and a padlock, it looked like it could fit triple the amount of clothes I owned. It was clearly for the quest. I decided that I'd pack after breakfast. By the time I'd cleaned up and changed, Lucy and Mitchell were starting to wake up everyone else. I made my bed and helped some of the younger kids make theirs. Lacy and Mitchell, who'd become my seconds in command, were taking their turns showering. The cabin came to life as the curtain between the boys’ side and the girls’ side was put up so those that shower at night, or every other day, could change in peace. As they finished up, little girls, the youngest few being about six, started to come have me or one of the others teach them how to tie their shoes. A few minutes before the horn blew, we took down the curtain and, directed by Mitchell, formed a line, with the younger kids in front. I took the lead, holding Amy’s and Tonio's hands. 

After breakfast, Lacy helped me pack, and Mitchell made sure that everyone else was ready for our first activity, archery with the Apollo cabin. Only the kids eight and up were allowed to actually shoot at the targets, but only with an experienced camper on hand, and with a shorter distance. The older Apollo kids set up, then helped the kids younger than eight with holding a bow and technique. Frank wandered over at some point, and ended up showing them his technique, which was slightly different. I grinned when he came over by me.  
“So, Piper, you're not doing anything. Might I ask why?”  
“I’m supervising, if you must know.” He smirked at me, already pulling me over to the range. He handed me a bow, and taught me how to shoot.

[Hazel’s POV]  
I watched Percy during breakfast; I think most of us did. Frank and I spent our time walking around camp until he saw that Apollo and Aphrodite cabins were doing archery, which is when he wandered over there. I continued on, finding Annabeth and Thalia sparring, and Percy teaching Leo how to use to a sword. Leo noticed me watching and waved me over. I rolled my eyes but joined them, helping Leo. Percy had us sparring after some time, and when he- they'd capped Riptide, taken a drink of water, then dumped the rest on hi- their head, Thalia tackled h- them. Clarisse, who had been attacking dummies, looked up, grinned, and joined in. Annabeth sighed, sheathed her sword, then jumped on the wrestling pile.  
“So, Diamond Girl, what do you say? Should we join in?” Leo asked.  
“Well, you're going to join no matter what I say, so I better take you down now.” I didn't waste time relishing at the expression on his face. I launched myself at him, throwing him into the fray and pinning him down before Piper tackled me. After a few minutes, I saw Frank bear hugging Annabeth. I think she judo-flipped him, but I'm not sure, as Thalia hit me on my right side, knocking me down. We wrestled and play-fought for a good hour. Will and Nico, who'd just come to watch, ended up joining in. We came up sweating and laughing, our arms linked and wrapped around each other. Everyone who was going on the quest was there, talking, singing, dancing, bonding. All except for Jason. He was watching from side, frowning at Percy. Piper glanced between him and Percy, but when Percy nodded, she waved him over. Jason kissed her on the cheek quickly, then wrapped his arm around her waist. Things toned down quickly, but Percy was joking with Leo and Frank, and teasing Thalia, so it couldn't be too bad, right? 

[Percy’s POV]  
Thankfully, almost right after Jason joined us, the horn blew for lunch. I kissed Annabeth on the cheek and watched her join her siblings. I sat down at my table, watching as everyone, came over from their various activities and sat down at their tables. Hazel, Nico and Will came over and sat down.  
“Table’s insane today, and we wanted to get away from it.” Will said.  
“And I figured that since we're both sitting alone, we might as well sit together.” Hazel added, shrugging. I looked over to Zeus’s table, where Thalia was sitting next to Piper, who was between her and Jason. I just smiled back, shrugging slightly. I turned my attention to the food as it appeared, and offered most of it to the gods. I noticed Will and Hazel eyeing my plate and exchanging looks. Nico and I just started eating. I ate a little more than I had at breakfast, at least. I sat talking with Nico as Hazel and Will finished eating. Will placed his hand on my shoulder. “Remember when you and Annabeth asked me if I could come up with something to help with your breathing? Well, I've made up some pills that you'll have to take at each meal with food, meant to heal your lungs more quickly than they would normally. Hazel, would you grab Annabeth? Percy, come with me, please.” I followed him to the infirmary, where he handed me a bottle of teal-colored pills. “These are minuscule amounts of ambrosia mixed with mortal medicine. Nothing you're allergic to, promise. And Annabeth, here are yours.” Hers were gray, but otherwise the same. Will started talking again. “The bottles are magically refillable, they refill themselves, and when you need them, they'll appear.”  
“Thank you, Will.” Annabeth said, taking my hand, squeezing it gently. I read the unspoken question there. ‘Are you okay?’ I squeezed back, a small smile on my face. ‘Yeah, I'll be fine. You?’ Was my answer. She rolled her eyes at me. ‘Same here, Perce.’  
“When you two are done doing your talking to each other silently thing, can you go visit Rachel or something? I'd like to make out with my boyfriend in private.” Nico drawled, snapping us back into reality.  
I just interwove my fingers with Annabeth’s, and we walked out, heading for Rachel’s cave.


	6. Chapter 5: Cell phones and Boyfriends

{Annabeth’s POV}  
Percy wrapped their arm around my waist as we walked, catching my hand. We didn't talk; we didn't need to. We could read each other very well now. People were glancing at us, some openly staring, as it became clear where we were headed. They probably thought we were insane, going to see the Oracle. Of course, most of them don't know that we’re friends with Rachel. I pulled back the purple curtain, and Percy let me spin out from under their arm. Rachel paused in her painting to wave, and Percy and I sat down.   
“So, how’s your day going?” Rachel asked.   
“A little better than usual. We were training in the arena and started play fighting, then after lunch Will gave us these.” I held up my pill bottle. She hummed and nodded. “I've pretty much been in here all day, painting. I heard about your quest though. I hope it goes well.” She smiled softly, almost sadly, at me while Percy gazed at the paintings. Most of them were castles, now that I looked. Or rather, one specific castle, painted from different points of view, giving us a good look at it. Rachel caught Percy’s gaze. “Yeah, I've been dreaming about that place. I think it has something to do with your quest,” She said. Percy shot me a look.   
“Well, I'm going to guess that that's Hogwarts, which we'll be attending this year.” Percy said slowly. We were telling Rachel about the quest when Leo burst in, excited. “I made a phone that’s monster proof and won't be affected negatively by magic! You each get one.” He handed us each a phone, mine the color of Percy's eyes, Percy's a nice blue, and Rachel's green on the front and red on the back. Percy slapped Leo on the back, maybe a little too hard to be considered friendly. “Thanks, man! This will be so much easier than IM’ing, even though there’s nothing wrong with that.” They grinned, already putting Sally’s number in, then grabbing my phone and putting mine in. They did the same with Rachel and Leo, and because Leo still had the rest of the phones with him, we just put all of the numbers in our phones.   
“See you later!” Leo called out, almost as an afterthought, as he dashed away. 

 

{Leo’s POV}

 

Right after I finished, I hightailed it to find Percy and Annabeth. When we had all the numbers put in our phones, something I had forgotten to do in my excitement, I hurried to find Piper. She was with Thalia, Hazel, and Clarisse. I tossed them each their phone, which already had four numbers in it, because we’d texted them. Then I found Will and Nico in the middle of a make out session, and just chucked the phones at their heads, now with nine numbers. Then I handed Frank his, like a normal person, and went to find Jason. I need to talk to him, maybe punch him in the face. But hopefully just talk.

 

{Harry’s POV}

 

As I packed, I thought over the nettings Draco and I had had over the course of the summer. We would talk for hours, finding, as impossible as it seemed, common interests. Our rivalry seemed foolish after everything that had happened, so we agreed… well, to disagree. We still argue, but not over petty things. Part of this visit is for me to meet Ms. Black, as she's going by now. After Lucius Malfoy’s disappearance, she declared that she was changing her name. She said it was because she couldn't bear to have her husband’s name without knowing what happened to him. Looking at the mess I had made, I sighed and waved my wand, fixing the mess and putting everything away neatly. I floated my trunk behind me as I walked down the stairs. Hermoine, Ginny, and Luna were putting on their coats.   
“Done packing already, Harry?” Ginny asked cheerily.  
“Yeah. What are you guys doing?” I asked.  
“Hermione's taking us to the movies,” Luna said.  
“Have fun at Draco's, Harry. We'll see you soon, I'm sure,” Hermione said, smiling.   
“See you all later.” I said as I prepared to Apperate. I landed on lush green grounds, staring up at the mansion I had been imprisoned in a few months ago.   
“Harry! Come meet my mother, then I'll show you your room and give you a tour.” Draco greeted me enthusiastically, kissing me on the cheek while waving his wand and moving my trunk to my room, I supposed. He wrapped an arm around my waist, making sure I was comfortable with it, then led me inside. It looked so different from last time I'd been here. It was a lot brighter, with fewer blacks and dark greens and more blues, light greens, and silvers. The chandelier had been replaced with a beautiful bundle of fairy lights that had been stuck to the ceiling (“A permanent sticking charm,” Draco informed me.) and looked like vines weaving their way through the air towards us. Ms. Black stood on the bottom step.   
“So you're the boyfriend Drake’s been raving about.” She smiled at me.   
“It's nice to meet you, Ms. Black.” I said, glancing up to meet her eyes then back down the floor.  
“Please call me Narcissa, dear.” She looked at Draco and winked. “I like this one, so polite.” I flushed and Draco made a noise in the back of his throat. “I'll let Draco show you to your room now, darling. I'm sure you two have things you'd like to do” -cue a long groan from Draco- “and we'll get to know each other at dinner.” She swept past us and Draco, head in his hands, groaned. “I told her not to embrass me and that's what she does.”   
“Draco, I liked it. I thought it was funny, and it broke whatever tension there might have been. So unless you want me to explore your house alone, I suggest you take me to my room.” His head shot up and he started up the stairs. I followed, laughing. We climbed two more sets of stairs before reaching ‘our floor’.   
“This one is yours.” Draco opened the first door on the left, one leading into a silver and gold room, and then moved across the hall. “I'm right here.” He opened his door, revealing silver and green walls. I stepped inside my room, waved my wand, opening the closet and causing all of my clothes to fly into it. Draco padded in softly. ”Your bathroom's right there.” He opened the door, showing me a chrome and gold bathroom. He shut the bathroom door and then, waving his hand, shut and locked my bedroom door. I sat down on the bed, and he joined me.   
“Have they gotten any better?” He asked softly, moving as if to wrap his arms around me but pulling back when I shook my head. I drew in a breath, then let it out slowly. “No. If anything, they've gotten worse.” I leaned against him and he pulled me into his lap. He flopped against the pillows, pulling me with him. I curled into his chest, and his hand started running through my hair.   
“Go to sleep, baby. I'll be here if anything happens.” He kissed me on the head and I felt myself drifting off. The last thing I heard was “From now on I'm going to protect you as well as I can, damn it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays everyone!


	7. Chapter Six: Nightmares and Hogwarts

{Draco’s POV}

I watched the sleeping boy in my arms. His face was peaceful, at least for now. I sighed softly, thinking about everything he’d done, everything he’d gone through, before my thoughts switched over to my own life. My father’s obsession with Voldemort, my mother trying to dissuade him from it. The fake- although my father never knew- Dark Mark. It was fake because my mother didn’t want me Marked when I was still at school, although there are ways I could have hidden it. Voldemort agreed, for some reason. I continued thinking, remembering everything happy from my childhood- Hogwarts, trips with my mother, making potions with Sev. After a few minutes, I felt myself begin to drift off, so I curled tight around Harry, trying to protect him as best I could from all the nightmares.

 

{Harry’s POV} 

Darkness swirled in my head as I tried to get a grip on what was going on. Different scenes started flashing by; a reprieve from the dark, but not necessarily a good none. I watched my mother die, then Cedric and Sirius, Mad-Eye Moody, Remus and Tonks, Fred, and countless others, most of whom I’d barely ever had a conversation with. Then the darkness increased, closing in, and I knew what was coming. I wanted to wake up; I tried and I tried to escape the horror that was about to become my previously almost-peaceful sleep. But no matter how hard I tried, the darkness always managed to suck me in. Deeper and deeper I fall, though I try to hide it. Will it ever go away? Will the nightmares ever stop? I don't know, and I don't have time to think on it, not when I'm screaming for Cedric to get back to the cup, watching him fall to the ground, then hearing my mother's screams, begging Voldemort not to kill me. Then Bellatrix's laugh as Sirius falls into a world where he can't be reached, not by the living, anyway. Then Remus and Tonks, with their new baby, Teddy, who will never know his parents. Their bodies lay on the castle floor, Tonks looking so young. And Fred. Percy crying, all the Weasleys crying. Fred laughing, his face frozen that way. He looked much younger then, almost younger than I had ever seen him. I started screaming then, or maybe I had been screaming all along. The darkness came for me again, but this time there was a voice, someone to help me fight it. It sounded familiar. I decided that this time, I'd hold on to the voice and bring back some light to combat the darkness. The voice got louder, and the darkness receded, memories of Hogwarts slipping in, almost glowing. Horrible memories still flashed by, but in a blur. I caught snippets of Vernon yelling, screaming, hitting. Of hunger and pain. But then I focused on the voice again, which seemed closer now, louder. The light got brighter and brighter, and I couldn't help but hope that one day, the darkness would be mostly gone, replaced by this light, yellowish-white. As the light got brighter, turned more white, I recognized the voice. It was Draco's. He had stayed. He was helping me. At this, the light flashed- once, twice, three times- brightly, and then disappeared, replaced by my boyfriend's extremely concerned face. 

{Draco’s POV} 

I woke up with Harry squirming in my arms, his eyebrows drawn together. I cast a tempus, and realized he’d only slept for forty-five minutes. I ran my hand through his hair, and he calmed, back to a peaceful sleep. After a few minutes, though, he started screaming, and I sat up straight, pulling him into my lap, resting his head on my chest. I started talking to him, too.  
“Harry, baby, it's only memories. Wake up, love, you'll be alright.” I hoped. “Harry, you're at my house, in your room, in your bed. You're safe, I'm safe, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and all of your- our friends are safe. Sweetheart, the people who died- those weren't your fault. They made the choice to fight, you didn't force them. It’s Voldemort’s fault, not yours. You'll be okay, love, you'll be okay. We'll be okay. I love you, darling, always remember that, even during your nightmares.” I spoke to him for five minutes before he stopped screaming, his voice destroyed, and it took three more minutes before his eyes opened. He just stared at me for a minute, then tried to speak.  
“S-sorry,” He started, but he couldn't continue. His voice was utterly shot.   
“You have nothing to be sorry for, baby. I want to help you with your nightmares. Now come here.” I pulled him closer to me gently, giving him room to back away if he wanted to. I laid down on the pillows, and he curled against me, crying softly. I rubbed my thumb across his face gently.   
“Do you want to get under the covers, love?” I asked quietly, and when he nodded, I picked him and got off the bed, calling for Daisy, our house elf, softly. She popped in- literally- and pulled back the covers for us. When she finished, I nodded at her, and she left. I tucked Harry back in, now sobbing silently, and then climbed in myself, gathering his too-slim frame in my arms and kissing his forehead. I wanted nothing more than to fix everything, to make him stop hurting. But I know I can't do that. What I can, and will, do is stay by him, show him he is loved and supported, cared for, and listen when he is ready to talk. 

{Annabeth’s POV}

I was ready to leave. I love it here, Camp Half-Blood is my home, but I just need a break. Seeing everything almost the same, new faces where old friends once were, I just need a break from it all. We've all lost so much in so little time. And, besides, it seems that the nightmares, especially Percy's, are typically worse here. At Sally's, they're not as intense, and it was the same way on the Argo II. Thankfully, Hecate is coming to take us to Hogwarts today. Everyone is already packed. Percy tapped my hand.   
“What's going through your head, Owl?”   
“I'm ready to leave. You know I love it here, but it's…” I started, turning my attention back to the trunk, ready to lift if up an take to the Big House.  
“It's hard to live and go about your daily routine when you're living in the place so many of your friends loved and died protecting, when people you barely knew died and you could have done something about it but at the same time you couldn't have.” They finished, staring at the floor. I stared at Percy, not moving until a tear traced a path on their cheek. Then I released my trunk and wrapped them up in a hug.   
“Gods, Percy.” I whispered, not knowing what else to say. They lifted their face to mine, and kissed my cheek gently.   
“Let's get our trunks to the Big House and get out of here. Hopefully it'll get better, and when we come back, it won't hurt so much.” They said, grabbing their trunk, lifting it, the blue stripes of wood standing out against the white birch wood of the rest of the trunk. I lifted my own trunk, oak wood with sea green stripes, and we headed for the Big House, meeting Frank and Hazel on the way, each carrying their own individualized trunk. We didn't speak, instead walking in a comfortable silence. Percy hefted their trunk up onto one shoulder and held the door for all of us, then followed us in, setting their trunk at their feet. After we were all seated, Chiron stood.  
“Lady Hecate will be here shortly to take you to Hogwarts. You should know that Headmistress Minerva McGonagall will be taking you to Diagon Alley tomorrow,to get a few essentials, and then you will begin your lessons.” We all nodded, then started whispering, for some reason. Thalia leaned over Percy. “Is Percy okay? Are you okay?” Percy had just been staring at the table for a few minutes now, while I was talking to Clarisse. “I'm okay, at the moment anyway. I don't know about Percy though. There’s a chance they just got caught up in their thoughts. It's happened before.” When Percy didn't say anything, even though we knew they could hear us, we were almost certain something was wrong. Thalia was about to speak to them when Hecate flashed in. We all covered our eyes, then slid out of our chairs, kneeling. After the light disappeared, we uncovered our eyes, looking at Hecate.   
“Sit back in your chairs, all of you, I suppose you've done enough for us to not have to kneel anymore. I won't have have you kneeling in front of me, that's for certain.” We all stood and sat down, Hecate sitting down as well, her misty gray dress billowing out. “I've contacted Minerva; she's waiting for you. Now, take hold of your trunks, and we'll be going.”  
“Do try to enjoy yourselves on this quest, my children.” Chiron said. He'd been so quiet I'd forgotten he was there. We all picked up our trunks, settling them on our laps uncomfortably, and then there was another flash of light.   
We were on the steps to a great stone castle, a rather stern-looking woman above us. We hurried to the top, not wanting to get on the bad side of the woman who must be Headmistress McGonagall.   
“Good afternoon, students, I am Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts and Transfiguration teacher. Mother did tell you were coming, of course, but failed to mention your names. So, if you would kindly introduce yourselves, we can begin the tour.”  
“Percy Jackson.”  
“Annabeth Chase.”  
“Thalia.”  
“Hazel Levesque.”  
“Frank Zhang.”  
“Piper McLean.”  
“Will Solace.”  
“Clarisse La Rue.”  
“Nico di Angelo.”  
“Jason Grace.”  
“Leo Valdez.”  
“Calypso.”  
“Alright, let's begin. Reyna is already here, she arrived yesterday, and should be in your quarters.” Professor McGonagall looked at our trunks, frowned, and waved her wand, causing them to float. The she led us through the hallways and up quite a few sets of stairs.   
“This is the Room of Requirement. You will be staying here until you are Sorted into your House. I'll explain all of that later, however. The Room of Requirement will provide you with everything you need, as the name suggests. Now, I will leave you to get settled in, and tomorrow morning we'll be Flooing to Diagon Alley, where you'll get your books, wands, and other necessities.” She turned on heel and began striding away, just as a door opened out of nowhere. Reyna was on the other side, smiling.   
“Come on in. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about, and Professor McGonagall's right, you do need to get settled in.” With our trunks floating behind us, we stepped over the threshold and into the Room of Requirement.


	8. Chapter Seven: Talks and Paperwork

{Percy’s POV}  
Reyna gave us a quick tour of the Room of Requirement. There were several bedrooms, four bathrooms, a kitchen, and the living room, which she called the common room. I locked my fingers with Annabeth’s and sat on a gray loveseat with her. Will and Nico were curled up together, Frank and Hazel were holding hands, albeit awkwardly, Leo and Calypso were whispering about something, Thalia was on the chair next to us, glaring at Jason, while Piper held onto Jason's arm tightly, keeping him from doing….. I don't know what. Clarisse was on the arm of the couch Piper and Jason were sitting on.Reyna was standing in the middle of the entire thing.  
“So, what’ve you been up to?” She asked. Piper started talking about L.A. and her dad. After a while, Jason relaxed and started adding in, laughing. After they had finished, Annabeth started talking about Mount Olympus and what she’d been doing there on weekends, which led to talking about school. Annabeth and I had plenty of funny stories, mostly about other people trying to break us up, date one- or both- of us and just general high school shenanigans and pranks- which Annabeth and I were totally not responsible for. By the time we all finished telling stories, and catching up, it was late.  
“We can talk more in the morning. We’re going to be doing a lot tomorrow- today, actually- so we should sleep.” Thalia stood, stretching. Annabeth and I got up next, heading for one of the bedrooms.  
“Night!” Thalia called after us; we laughed and yelled it back. We heard footsteps behind us- Nico and Will. Everyone started filing out slowly, and because they passed our room talking, we knew that Thalia and Reyna were the last to leave, despite Thalia having been the first to stand. Annabeth and I changed quickly, and Annabeth laid her clothes out for the morning. I decided I would wait. We curled up against each other, both hoping for a peaceful night’s rest. 

{Reyna’s POV}  
When Thalia told me what had been going on with Jason, and that she thought, no matter what they said, that Percy and Annabeth weren’t fine, I had to agree. They both had a weariness to their eyes tonight that wasn’t there when I saw them last, and Jason isn’t helping. As seeing that they were asleep, and not going to divulge the information willingly, we’d have to trick them somehow- find out how bad the nightmares are, how bad the flashbacks are, everything. It would wait until tomorrow, though. I stayed up a while with Thalia, talking in my room. Because I hadn’t gotten much about the camps, she filled me in. She also made sure I knew that Percy had been listening to In the Heights and Hamilton lately, as well as Moana, and that if they needed to relax, and Annabeth wasn’t there, try playing them. I said I would. I’d heard of all three- I’d even seen Moana.  
“So, what have you been doing, Thalia?” I asked.  
“The usual: Hunting monsters, checking in with Annabeth and Percy often, getting adopted by Sally.” She grinned at my expression. I wasn’t expecting the last one. “What have you been doing?”  
“For a while, I was at Camp Jupiter, as you know, then I came here. I’ve mostly been training. I talked to Piper and Coach Hedge a few times though.”  
“So, what do you think of McGonagall?” Thalia asked.  
“She’s strict, definitely, but she cares about her students- that’s clear from the way she talks about them. She also takes no shit from anyone and it’s awesome.” I said.  
“Sounds like someone I can get along with.” Thalia grinned, looking at me side-eyed, and I found that I couldn’t stop staring. She noticed. “Whatcha staring at, huh?” She shoved me off the bed, catching me by surprise. “Asshole.” I muttered as I tried not smile. “See if you can do that again. And that’s how we ended up play-fighting on the bed, laughing. Frank popped his head in, looking awkward. “Sorry to bother you, but you’re being a bit too loud. Could you quiet down?” Thalia and I moved apart instantly, and after Frank left Thalia stood up. “I guess I better go to my room now.” She said. “See ya tomorrow.” She grinned at me again before slipping out the door. I laid down, not even bothering with the covers. What was I getting into? Why did it scare me so much? I fell asleep slowly, not expecting pleasant dreams at all. Oh gods, was I surprised when I woke and remembered them.

{Headmistress McGonagall's POV}

I sighed as I looked at all the papers on my desk. I have to finish them before term starts, and teach those demigods. And there's the matter of dormitories for the returning students, a well as for the demigods. While it is likely Hogwarts will provide the solution (in inter- house unity form, I’m sure), I still need to figure something out. As I sat down, I realized that the demigods- especially Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase- likely have nightmares, as will Potter and several others who were in the war. Perhaps separate rooms for them? It might work. I turned my attention to the papers, going over them automatically. After some time, I cast a Tempus, and, seeing that it was thee in the morning, decided to retire. As I readied myself for bed, I thought of what I'd have to do tomorrow. I'd take the demigods to Diagon Alley, get them their wands and other necessities, and let them wander for a bit. Perhaps they'll get owls, or more books. I do believe that Miss Chase will get quite the book load. I think the first thing I'll teach them will be the spell to translate books into any language. If they’re in Ancient Greek or Latin, it will be easier for them to read. I remember my own struggles with that. I waved my wand, folding my clothes and unmaking my bed. I'd sleep in a bit today, and let the demigods sleep in as well, but only until seven. 

{Annabeth’s POV}  
I woke smiling; for once I hadn't had any nightmares. When I glanced at Percy, it was apparent that the same was not true for them. Their eyes were shut tightly, and they were whimpering softly. I knew touching them wouldn't help; often it just made it worse. I settled for calling their name. “Percy. You're safe. We're at Hogwarts, and we're going to Diagon Alley today. We'll be getting our wands, and books, and maybe a familiar or a pet, or maybe both. We'll get our robes today as well.” Percy’s face relaxed, so I kept talking. “We start learning spells tomorrow, and how to brew potions, and maybe we'll have some free time. We'll explore together, look at the architecture, go to the bottom of the lake.” I held my breath as Percy woke up slowly.  
“Morning Annabeth. How'd you sleep?”  
“I slept just fine, Percy, I didn't have any nightmares. What was yours about?”  
“It was an old one, actually. I haven't had one of them for a year or so. It was about Gabe.” That told me all I needed to know. Over the year, Percy had told me- slowly, carefully- about what Gabe had done to them and not very much of it, even. I stretched, standing up and grabbing Percy's hands and laughing when they reached out to me. I pulled them out of bed, sending us both tumbling to the floor. Thalia, who must have been passing by, poked her head in. “Everything alright in here?”  
“Yeah, we're just messing around.”  
Percy answered.  
“Well, get dressed and get out here. You can help make breakfast.” She shut the door, and Percy and I looked at each other, laughing. After a few seconds, I unlocked my trunk, pulling out a sea green sweater (a gift from Percy) and gray dress pants (a gift from Sally). I snapped the lid shut, and turned to find Percy looking through their things. They had a light blue button up on the bed, with a darker blue sweater vest to go over it.  
“What are you looking for?” They glanced at me. “The skirt that's light blue at the top and darkens towards the bottom.Will you help me find it?”  
“Yeah.” I knelt beside them and after a few minutes, we found the skirt. Percy had their shoes- black tennis shoes- next to the bed. I kissed them on the cheek and went to change, a curtain appearing between us when I crossed the room. After changing, we locked fingers and went to meet Thalia in the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1467  
> Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to update, and that this chapter is kinda all over the place (at least it's in chronological order, right?). Please comment. Comments let me know that people are reading this and encourage me to write more.  
> Thanks for reading,  
> Phoenix


	9. Of Owls and Dresses

{Annabeth’s POV}  
I smiled at Percy as they started making hot chocolate; Sally taught them how to homemade hot chocolate, and it's delicious. Thalia was sipping coffee.   
“I’m going to make breakfast pizza. I'll just triple the recipe. Thalia, get eggs, sausage, cheese, milk, and bacon. Make scrambled eggs and cook the sausage and bacon, then cut it up into pieces. I'm going to make the dough.” I swept into action, mixing up the dough quickly and rolling it on a giant pan. Then I put eggs, cheese, sausage, bacon, and more cheese on, thanks to Percy, making sure to leave a section with just eggs and cheese for Piper. I put it in the oven and turned to see Percy smiling and handing out cups of hot chocolate to everyone. They glanced at me and their smile grew. They grabbed the last two cups of hot chocolate and handed me one. They offered their arm, and I took it.   
“How about we all go to the common room and wake up? It'll be fifteen minutes until the pizza is done.” Percy smiled and we led the way to the common room. Thalia and Reyna sat on the same couch, which went unnoticed by no one. We chatted lightly, mostly about Hogwarts. When the timer when off, Percy stood. “I'll go get everything set up.” I listened for noises from the kitchen, but there were none. After a minute, Percy can back. “Breakfast is ready.” I stood and grabbed their hand, and we led the way back to the kitchen. We talked significantly less over breakfast, because everyone was eating. As Jason was finishing up the dishes, Headmistress McGonagall walked in.   
“As seeing that you are all ready for the day, we shall be leaving. Here are your lists. Follow them, and you'll be fine.” We all caught the rolls of parchment floated at us. Headmistress McGonagall started walking, clearly expecting us to follow. We did. 

{Percy's POV}   
When we tumbled into Diagon Alley, I just stared. “I'll show you around quickly, then you pair off and go to different shops. No more than four of you may go into a shop at once. We don't want to overwhelm them. And you're not to go down Knockturn Alley.” The headmistress started walking again. After a quick tour, we were left on our own, already pairing off. Annabeth and I, Piper and Jason, Hazel and Frank, Nico and Will, Thalia and Reyna (that was rather scary to think about) and Leo and Calypso, which left Clarisse. After we grouped with Thalia and Reyna, Clarisse followed us at a distance. We went to get our robes first. When we stepped into the shop, a woman hurried up to us.   
“We need five of everything on this list.” Annabeth handed her the list, and she glanced at it.   
“Outgrown your old uniforms, I see. Well, come along. I'll take your measurements and have you all done within the hour.” She pulled me up on the stool, and got to work. After she had the measurements, she waved her wand and three people came out from the back. “I'll need you to get starts on this while I take the rest of their measurements.” They took the paper she gave them with my measurements, along with a list of what we needed. She turned to me. “They'll be done with that by the time I'm done with this young lady here.” It had taken her fifteen minutes with me, and I assumed it would be the same for Annabeth. Sure enough, I got my uniform right before Annabeth was done, and in the end, we only had to wait fifteen minutes for Clarisse's uniform.   
“You'll have to go somewhere else for for dress robes and dresses, I'm sorry.” She handed us back the list. “That'll be 300 galleons.” I had no idea what she meant, but Reyna seemed to. She pulled out a bunch of gold coins, and handed them to her. When we got outside, Thalia, Reyna, and Clarisse went off on their own. Annabeth looked at the list of books and frowned. “I wonder which of these we're supposed to get.” I shrugged. I could barely read it. When we arrived at the shop, Headmistress McGonagall was standing outside.   
“They already know what books you need, so don't worry about that. You have your money?” We stared at her. “And I forget to give you your money. I have to find everyone else now. Here's yours. Have fun.” She hurried away after handed both of us a heavy bag. We got our books, and went to get our wands. When we entered the building, titled Clavere, there was a flash of red. A young woman ran out from behind the boxes.  
“I'm Alexis Clavere. You two need wands? You're a bit older than I expected. Let's start with you, dear.” She grabbed Annabeth’s arm and measured it. She brought out a wand, and told Annabeth to wave it. When nothing happened, she gave her another. After a while of this, gray sparks came out of one. Ms. Clavere took it back. “Cherry, 12 inches, stiff, with a boomslang, dragon heartstrings and phoenix feather blend core.” She handed it back to Annabeth. “Now it's your turn. Left handed, I see.” She smiled at me and got started. It took even longer for me than it did for Annabeth. Finally, I got one that worked.   
“Interesting. Cedar, 14 inches, reasonably supple, with a mermaid hair, mermaid scale, and dragon heartstrings blend. That'll be four galleons and two knuts, please.” Annabeth pulled out the money, and we moved on, getting everything else as Annabeth checked off the list.   
“Now we just need our dress robes and dresses.” Annabeth said. “And then we can go get owls, if we want.” I nodded. We walked for a bit until I spotted a shop with the sign ‘Wizarding Dress: Dress Robes and Dresses’. Though the window, I could see gray dress robes, and Annabeth pointed out green ones to me- almost my eye color- that she might get.   
“I was going to get the gray ones.” I told her, smiling. As we entered, there was a voice. Neither of us could make out what it saying, but it sounded bad. Then a scared-looking man came out of a back room. “So, how can I help you two today?” He asked.  
“We'd like one set of gray dress robes and one set of the sea-green dress robes.” I said.   
“Alright. Would you like any dresses today, sir?” I winced at the honorific. I know people judge on what they see- I've been doing it far too much myself- but it still hurt. And I'm wearing a skirt today. You wouldn't think that sir would be the honorific used.  
“Yes. We haven't decided on color or style yet, but I'm sure something will come to us.” Annabeth said.   
“Very well. I'll do your fitting first, ma’am. You want the gray robes, I assume, to go with your eyes?”  
“Actually, I'll be taking the sea-green robes.” Annabeth smiled at him while stepping onto the block. He hurried to grab a set of the robes and set about fitting them to Annabeth. I daydreamed until Annabeth poked me, then continued daydreaming after I got on the block, until Annabeth pulled me down and over to the dresses. I found one I liked almost instantly. It was teal, strapless, and had a wide skirt. When he saw my interest, the man took it off the rack. I went to find Annabeth, who was looking at a gray dress with a sparkly gold overskirt. She looked at me. “Do you already have your dress picked out?”   
“I do. Are you going to get this one?” I asked.   
“I think I will. I like the gray, and the gold gives it a little life.” The man, who had followed me, picked up the dress. Ten minutes later, we left.  
We made our way to the Magical Menagerie. An older woman approached us. “Hogwarts students, I see. Well, the accepted pets and familiars are right over there, dears.” There were owls, pygmy puffs, toads, and cats. An owl flew to Annabeth’s arm. It was a white-and-gray owl, with big golden eyes. I looked for an owl, but instead, a pygmy puff caught my eye. Then I heard a voice. “Looking for a familiar? A pygmy puff will do you well.” A girl, about a year younger than me, was staring at the pygmy puffs dreamily. “I’d get that one, if I were you.” She said, pointing to one with teal fur and dark gray eyes. “Luna! We must leave now!” A man called, and the girl, Luna, left. I went to pet the pygmy puff, and found myself picking it up instead.

{Annabeth’s POV}  
I smiled as Percy picked up a pygmy puff. I figured they would get one. I ran my hand down my owl’s back, wondering if Percy would get an owl and a pygmy puff. Unlike with me, though, the owls don’t seem to picking them. The owner, Miss Angla, came up to me. “I see that a Great Gray owl has picked you! What are you going to name her?”  
“I don’t know yet.” I said.  
“That’s alright. Most people don’t know at right away. Now, let me tell you something. I think that Barred owl has her eye on your partner there.” She pointed, discreetly, to a black owl with fawn-colored eyes. Eyes that were following Percy. Soon enough, she flew down and landed on their shoulder. They didn’t flinch, just raised their head to meet the owl’s eyes, then they looked at me. Still holding the pygmy puff, they came back over.   
“Now I just need to name them.” Percy said.   
“Are you going to have two pets, or a pet and a familiar?” I asked.   
“One of each. The pygmy puff is going to be my familiar, and the owl is going to be my pet.” They got nipped on the ear for that one. I smoothed down my owl’s wing again. Then I had a name.  
“Ivory. Your name is Ivory.” I told her. She hooted softly in agreement. Percy smiled at me. “I think I might have a name. What do you say to Storm?” They asked their owl. She hooted softly as well. I looked at the pygmy puff. “What's her name?” Percy looked at me. “I think…. Tropica. Storm and Tropica.” They looked at the pygmy puff nuzzling into their hand.   
“Are you going to get a familiar, Annabeth?” Percy asked.   
“No, I don't think I will. Not right now, anyway. Let's go pay and find the others.” I said, taking Percy's free hand. We walked up to the counter and paid, then ran into Hazel on our way out. She stumbled, but we caught her.   
“Frank! I found them!” She called. Frank hurried over. “Thank the gods! We've been looking for you all over; you were the last ones done.” We exchanged glances. Hazel looked at us, each with an owl and Percy with a pygmy puff. “We'd better find everyone else.” She said.   
“We don't have to. They found us.” Percy pointed. Sure enough, everyone was walking towards us. Thalia had an eagle owl on her shoulder. She clapped me on the arm. “Let’s find McGonagall so we can get back to Hogwarts.” Reyna walked over. “Well, Jason won’t try anything tonight.” Before she could say anything more, Headmistress McGonagall appeared. “Good, you’re all here. Let’s get back to Hogwarts so I can show you how to change your books to Ancient Greek. Tomorrow we’ll start your lessons.” We went back through the fireplace and back to Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1965
> 
> Hey everyone! I've been working on this chapter for a while (you wouldn't believe how long it takes to come up with wands for everyone and pets for everyone. it was fun but hectic) Shoutout to Wolf_Spell (aka my best friend/wife, Kailey) for helping me (she did most of the research. it helps that we're writing about the same topic) Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please comment, as always.
> 
>  
> 
> Phoenix


	10. Chapter Nine: Shopping and the Queen

{Harry’s POV}  
I stretched, seeking out Draco on the bed. Instead, I heard him chuckle. “I have to go to Hogwarts today, love. Headmistress McGonagall wants to speak with me about something. If you get up, though, there are pancakes downstairs.” I turned to his voice, eyes still half-closed. He chuckled again, and scooped me off the bed. His chuckling stopped. “Oh, baby, you're so light. You gotta eat more.” I whined and turned my head into his chest. He sighed. “Alright, let's get you dressed.”   
I ate my pancake slowly, half-listening to Draco and Narcissa. It took a few minutes to them to get my attention anyway.   
“Harry,” Draco said, “Would you like for Mother to take you to get a few things today?” I looked up. I'd only ever shopped with Hagrid, Hermione, and Ron before.   
“Yeah,” I smiled at them.   
“We'll leave when Draco does, and eat lunch in Diagon Alley, or maybe in muggle London,” Narcissa said, already planning our day. “I know quite a few excellent places there.” After a minute, Draco stood.   
“Well, I'll see you later. Perhaps we can meet up for dinner?” He kissed Narcissa’s forehead and me on the lips before Apparating to Hogsmeade. Narcissa stood up. “Well, Harry, we’ll need to get you formal robes, school robes, and some muggle clothing. Perhaps a new owl as well?” She looked at my outfit, a gray shirt and jeans. “You'll have to borrow something of Draco’s for today's outing, though.” She turned on her heel and walked up the stairs, her robes billowing behind her. I followed her to Draco’s room, where she quickly found a more suitable outfit: Black semi formal robes, dark jeans, and a dark green button-up.   
“Ms. Black, how good to see you again. And you've brought a guest!” A young woman exclaimed. I looked around the store. It wasn't one I'd heard of before, and was clearly very upper class. Narcissa smiled ruefully.   
“It's good to see you too, Jane. My dear..” She paused, searching for the right word. “Nephew needs a new wardrobe. He was left with muggles, you see.” An almost-truth and the truth. Jane clapped her hands together once. Narcissa glared.   
“Alright, let's get you fitted for robes. I assume he'll need formal, semi formal, casual, and school robes?” Narcissa nodded once. After that, I was whisked around, getting emerald robes, silver robes, emerald gold-trimmed robes, black robes, my school robes, and finally emerald silver-trimmed robes.   
“Now let's get you some shirts and pants. We'll go to muggle London to get some casual clothes- the muggles are quite good at them- and maybe a suit,” Narcissa said as we walked to another shop I'd never seen before. After buying what seemed to be half the shop, we Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and walked into the rather familiar chaos of muggle London.   
“Well, Harry, I know an excellent place for lunch. The Typing Room is one of my favorite restaurants. After lunch, we'll get you some clothes and see if Draco can meet up with us,” Narcissa said, striding in the direction of the Typing Room. When we entered, I figured I knew why Narcissa liked it: Fancy and understated, with gray-green walls throughout. We were seated, handed menus, and left to it. Narcissa didn't even open her menu.   
“So, Harry, have you any idea what you'll be getting?” She asked, not unkindly. I shook my head. She smiled. “I thought not.” The waiter came back.   
“Are you ready to order?” To my surprise, Narcissa nodded. “I’ll have prawn to start. He'll have venison.” The waiter nodded. After we ate, the waiter came back.   
“Would you like a second course?”   
“We would. I'll have the haddock,” Narcissa said.  
“And you, sir?”   
“I'll have the hare,” I answered, a bit confused. After a third course of yorkshire rhubarb for Narcissa and a cheese selection for me, we payed and left.   
After a few minutes, I shrieked. I heard laughter, and realized it was Draco spinning me around. Narcissa was smiling, however slightly.   
“Well, boys, I'm going home. You two enjoy the rest of your day.” She hurried to a dark alley and disapparated. Draco beamed at me.   
“What do you say about getting dessert?”   
Draco removed his hands from my eyes, revealing a chocolate bar, and all kinds of chocolate on shelves on the blue walls. Draco stepped in front of me.   
“Welcome to my favorite restaurant: Skyla’s Chocolate Delights.” A young woman, about eighteen, glided over. “Draco, so good to see you. And you must be the boyfriend he can't shut up about.”  
“Hey, Skyla. Yes, this is my boyfriend, Harry,” Draco said, rolling his eyes. Skyla ignored him.   
“You wouldn't believe what he was like all through school. Almost everything he talked about was you. And when he realized he had a crush on you…. And again when he realized he had a chance with you… Oh, the stories I could tell!” Draco grabbed at her, covering her mouth. She shoved back hard with her body, and something fell off her head. I caught it, because it looked expensive. Draco released Skyla, and I handed her the circlet. She fixed it on her red hair, where it became invisible unless you knew where to look.  
“You're the queen of Britain.” I stated quietly. Skyla smiled.   
“Yes, darling, I am. This is my downtime place, you might say. As you've picked up, I went to Hogwarts. I was in Ravenclaw. I took my exams early this summer. Draco, the usual booth?” He nodded, and Skyla led us to a corner with a dark green table and silver covers on the seats.   
~*~  
We walked into the dining room, laughing and each carrying a heavy bag of chocolate and fudge from Skyla. Narcissa was waiting.   
“Cast a Tempus, boys! Put that away and up to bed with you. I know you've been sleeping in the same room, so if you're going to have sex do it quietly and be safe. Can't risk a pregnancy, now, can we?” Narcissa swept out of the room, leaving Draco and I flushed.   
“What did she mean we can't risk a pregnancy? Neither of us can get pregnant, right?” I asked. Draco sighed.   
“It's too late for this, I'll explain in the morning.” We trudged up the stairs to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, I've had tennis and school and Revue show. Skyla is my friend Kailey's character. I put her in mostly as she is in Kailey's fanfiction. (The only me thing is the chocolate shop, really). I don't own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.  
> Thanks for reading,   
> Phoenix


	11. Chapter Ten: Lessons and House Elves

{Luna’s POV}  
Today was the day I’d get to meet the demigods who had saved the world. And I’d be teaching the magic, which would be fun.  
“Luna!” Someone called from behind me. I turned to look. “Neville. You’ve wrackspurts flying around your head, you know,” I told him.  
“Are you ready to meet our follow demigods?” He asked.  
“I am. How are your studies with Professor Sprout going?”  
“Very well. By the end of this year, I should be ready to take over as Herbology teacher.”  
“Draco, how are you?” Neville’s voice showed that he did not completely trust Draco, no matter that Harry was dating him.  
“I am doing well. Mother is taking Harry out shopping today. I figure that one day I might bring him along with me.”  
“That would excellent, Draco. May I be there when you do?” I asked.  
“I don't see why not.” Draco shrugged fluidly.  
“Ms. Lovegood, Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Malfoy, it is time you meet the demigods. Remember, you cannot tell anyone what they are.” 

{Reyna’s POV}  
“We have to get dressed, our teachers are coming today,” Hazel said, getting out of her seat. “Percy, will you help me pick an outfit?”  
“Sure. I've got some things you can borrow, too.” Percy was already dressed for the day, in a gray jacket and galaxy T-shirt. Their beanie was the genderfluid flag on one side, and the demiboy flag on the other. I stretched and shoved out of my chair. Thalia pulled me down onto her lap as I passed.  
“Thalia, we both have to get dressed. First impressions and all.” I said.  
“Alright.” We left just as Annabeth entered, blond hair up in a bun.  
“You two better hurry. We've only got about fifteen minutes until they get here.” She remarked casually. She sat down and opened her book- Hogwarts: A History. Thalia tugged me into her room.  
When we returned to the sitting area, only Hazel and Percy weren't there.  
“I think I might grow my hair out.” Percy said from behind me. I turned, even as Thalia pulled me down gently onto the couch beside her. Hazel was wearing a flowy gold shirt, which matched her eyes. Her skirt was white, and a bit long on her. I suspected it was one of Percy’s. Her hair was up in a messy bun, some of her brown curls falling over her face. Headmistress McGonagall entered, three teenager behind her.  
“Demigods, this is Luna Lovegood, daughter of Athena, and a seventh year Ravenclaw.” The blond girl with pink glasses stepped forward and curtsied slightly.  
“Neville Longbottom, son of Demeter, returning eighth year Gryffindor.” The brown haired boy waved.  
“Draco Malfoy, son of Hermes, returning eighth year Slytherin.” He just nodded. Headmistress McGonagall turned to them.  
“Students, Reyna Arellano, Percy Jackson, Thalia, Annabeth Chase, Clarisse LaRue, Jason Grace, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Piper McLean, Nico Di Angelo, Leo Valdez, and Calypso.”  
“Neville will be teaching you Herbology and about magical creatures. Luna will be teaching you charms. Draco will be instructing you in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I will handle anything else, including having a few of the professors arrive early to teach you. Do any of you have any interest in Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, or Divination?”  
“I have all the textbooks, so we'll look over them and tell you in a day or two,” Annabeth promised.  
“Very well. I'll leave to your studies.” Headmistress McGonagall left.  
“So, who are your parents?” Malfoy drawled.  
“I'm the daughter of Zeus,” Thalia answered loftily. “And a Hunter of Artemis.”  
“I'm the daughter of Pluto,” Hazel said shyly.  
“Mars,” Frank grunted.  
“Ares, punk,” Clarisse glared at Malfoy.  
“I'm a daughter of Aphrodite,” Piper said, head high.  
“I’m the daughter of Bellona,” I said. “Praetor of the Twelfth Legion. As is Frank. Percy and Jason were praetors.” Percy might actually technically still be one, even though they'd stepped aside for Jason.  
“Son of Jupiter,” Jason said.  
“Son of Hades,” Nico too glared at Malfoy.  
“I'm a son of Hephaestus.” Leo lit his hair on fire.  
“I'm a daughter of Atlas,” Calypso said.  
“I’m a daughter of Athena. It's always nice to meet a new half-sibling,” Annabeth smiled at Luna.  
“I’m the child of Poseidon.” Percy said, twirling Riptide between their fingers.  
“Alright. So, there are twelve of you, and three of us. We're all coming three days a week. I say we split up into groups. Jackson, Chase, Levesque, Thalia, you're with me today. The rest of you split up as you like.” Malfoy waved his hand to dismiss us as he led Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Hazel away.  
“I'll go with Luna,” Piper said, “and Jason will come with me.”  
“I'll go with Neville, I guess.” Frank shrugged.  
“I'll go with Luna,” I said. “Leo, Calypso, you're with Neville.”  
“I'm with Neville,” Nico said.  
“Clarisse, you're with us, then.” I said, clapping her on the shoulder. We followed Luna to a classroom.  
“This is Professor Flitwick’s classroom. I will be teaching you simple charms, mostly.” Luna said, a bit dreamily. A levitation charm, a softening charm, a locking spell, and an unlocking spell were some of the few she taught us that day. Clarisse had struggled a bit with the softening charm, along with Jason. I had trouble with the unlocking spell myself, and Piper with the locking spell. We all had a bit of work to do on pronunciation of ‘Wingardium Laviosa’ and the motion, simple as it was.  
“You're almost through with the first year charms. Practice them, because I won't see you for a few days. Although perhaps Professor Flitwick will be in by then…” Luna whispered as we left the classroom for lunch. We were all hungry, and paid her little attention. We'd been at this since seven in the morning, after all.  
We were the first ones back. Piper turned to Luna.  
“How did we learn the first year spells in six hours?” She asked.  
“There are only four of you, so you each got more one-on-one time than you would in class, and classes are only one, at most two, hours long during the school year.” Neville answered, leading Nico, Frank, Calypso, and Leo in. That made sense.  
“Let's make lunch while we wait for them to get back,” Jason said. Neville regarded us curiously. “You know that you don't have to make anything, right? The house elves will bring it to you.”  
“Winkie! Daisy!” Luna called. Two elves popped into the room. “Will you bring us some lunch?” She asked.  
“Yes Miss Luna! Will you be needing anything else, miss?” One of the elves squeaked.  
“Let Malfoy know that lunch is being made. They should be back by now anyway,” Neville instructed.  
“Of course, Mister Neville!” The same elf said.  
“Will you make sure that there's vegetarian food, please?” Piper asked.  
“It will be my pleasure, Miss…”  
“Piper.”  
“Miss Piper!” The elves  
popped out of the room.  
“This afternoon all three of us will be teaching you different levels of etiquette. One will be a general guideline of wizarding etiquette, and Draco will teach you high-level etiquette. We’ll also teach you the rules of Hogwarts.” Neville said. “At about four you'll be left to your own devices, or maybe Headmistress McGonagall has something planned.”  
“That sounds alright,” Piper said.  
Our food arrived before Malfoy and his group. Neville and Luna exchanged looks and the rest of us ate nervously. I knew I didn't want to sit around if my friends were in danger. Finally, they came back. They looked okay. We all relaxed slightly. I was surprised when Annabeth sat next to me instead of Thalia, who was on Percy's other side. Malfoy must have said something then. Malfoy didn't sit down. “I’ve got something this afternoon. Luna and Longbottom will be dealing with your etiquette lessons today.” He left the room stiffly.  
“How were your lessons?” I asked Annabeth.  
“They went pretty well. We did potions today, and we learned how to cut the ingredients correctly first. We brewed a potion, each working separately. But we all brewed different potions.” She answered.  
“We worked on most of the first year charms. It was kinda fun.” I told her.  
“We worked with Devil's Snare, mostly.” Nico leaned over. “It was fun.” The three of talked through the rest of the meal, Percy and Thalia joining in occasionally. When Neville stood, looking nervous and a bit scared, and Luna drifted over, we knew we were in for one hell of a ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1430
> 
> Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update, summer laziness + tennis + bowling + family obligations have taken away my writing time. I hope you liked this chapter. Tell me, how did I do with Luna's character?  
> Love ya,  
> Phoenix


	12. Chapter Eleven: Training and Parties

*Three months later. August 18th, 2012 (I'm going based on Rick's wacky years here, and yes I know the Battle of Hogwarts took place years earlier. Let's just pretend timelines don't exist, okay?)*

{Annabeth's POV}

I watched with Thalia as Percy instructed Neville on using a sword. Piper was helping Luna, and Hazel was working with Draco. It was strange to think that we would actually be starting school soon, after having been learning seven years' worth of knowledge in three months. And yet we would be. Of course, after the first couple of weeks, we'd been taught by the actual professors, with the exception of Potions. Draco had still taught us that. Even so, Neville and Luna had dropped by now and then to help out with a few things, and I was proud to say that we were even a bit ahead. In return, we were teaching them how to fight using swords and the like.

"Annabeth, come spar with me?" Percy asked, wiping sweat off their face.

"Sure, Perce." Neville stepped back.

"Hang on, I want in." Thalia said. "I need to work on my swordfighting skills." Percy and I had been teaching Thalia how to fight with a sword. Sure, her bow was good for long-distance fighting and hunting, but not so much up close, or if she runs out of arrows. I drew my bone-sword and studied their stances. Thalia was in a stance I recognized. It was one of the first taught at Camp-Half Blood. Percy was shifting, spinning Riptide in their hands. I couldn't read what they were going to do, even having seen them fight before. I knew I couldn't overthink it- Percy has outsmarted all of their opponents so far. Thalia shifted, swinging at Percy. Percy blocked, sidestepped, and caught Thalia on the neck. They left their sword there for a second before Thalia stepped back. Percy looked at me, and then at Thalia. I took the opportunity to charge them. Percy seemed to be expecting it, and parried. Thalia attacked then. Two on one, and Percy would likely still win, unless Thalia decided to electrocute them. Percy easily disarmed Thalia, using the first move they had ever learned. Taking her sword, Percy turned their full attention on me. I'd never seen them fight with two swords before.

"Ready, Wise Girl?" They asked, smirking. In answer, I raised my own sword. Percy blocked, then struck with Thalia's sword. I parried, and Percy threw Thalia's sword back to her. She jumped back in. We sparred for a while- I was never sure how long. In the end, Percy had Thalia's sword at her neck, and Riptide at mine, with my sword at their feet.

"Παραιτούμαι;" Percy asked.

"Κάνε με." Thalia and I said at the same time.

"εάν επιμένεις." Percy turned Riptide on me, hitting me hard in the sternum with the hilt. Then he did the same to Thalia. I looked at Thalia. Like me, she was on the ground, held there at swordpoint.

"Εγκαταλείπουμε," We said together. Percy pulled back the swords and helped us both up.

"That was some of the best sword fighting I've seen in a while," Draco said.

"Thanks," All three of us said, and then laughed.

"Well, I'm going to shower and change." Percy said.

"You better, Jackson, or you don't get to open your gifts," Piper threatened, grinning.

"Understood, McLean." Percy jogged off.

"So, gifts?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"It's Percy's eighteenth birthday," I explained. "We're having a little party to celebrate, and don't tell them, but Sally and Paul are coming to visit."

"I wish I had known. As it is, I'll have to head over to Diagon Alley and get something. Luna, Neville, come on. We'll back in a bit, maybe with Harry." Draco said, all but physically dragging Luna and Neville out the door.

"We better shower, Thalia," I said.

"Yeah. See all of you in about a half hour." Thalia called as she turned to leave.

"I'll join you." Reyna jogged over from where she had been punching the punching bag. Thalia looked over her sweaty form as Reyna pulled up her shirt to wipe her face off.

"We'll be a half hour, everyone." Reyna announced.

"We should all shower up. I think we're done training for the day anyway," Hazel said. Everyone murmured assent and we filtered out of the classroom we had been using.

"Hey Wise Girl," Percy nuzzled my neck.

"Hey Seaweed Brain." I had showered and changed into one of Percy's hoodies. Percy, in retaliation, was wearing one of mine. It was a bit too small on them, showing off their stomach a bit, but I wasn't complaining. Besides, gray was a nice color on them.

"Let's go out and be with the others. Maybe Draco, Luna, and Neville are back."

"They left?" Oh, right. Percy had left before Draco said he was getting a gift for them.

"Yeah, they were going to get gifts for you." I explained.

"Hey, lovebirds, hurry up. I want cake already." Clarisse said through the door, and I opened it.

"Going to throw us in the Black Lake, Clarisse?" Percy asked. She shrugged.

"It's tradition now, isn't it? Come on, let's head out." Clarisse said, and when she winked at me I knew that Sally and Paul had arrived. I slid my hand into Percy's. "Let's get some cake, Seaweed Brain,"

"Happy birthday, Perce." Leo said, clapping Percey on the back and handing them an odd contraption. "It will block your scent from monsters and can help against nightmares," Leo explained.

"Thanks, Leo. I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of it." Percy smiled at Leo, and we continued walking towards the Black Lake. There was a blanket set up there, and Sally and Paul were sitting down on it.

"Mom!" Percy almost ran to her. Sally stood up and hugged him.

"It's good to see you, Percy. I can't believe you're already eighteen. All of you, come and sit down so Percy can open their presents." We all did as told. I sat next to Percy, who was holding their baby sister, Estelle. Piper handed Percy a wrapped gift. Shifting Andrina to one arm, they took it. Inside was a band with screen on it. A Fitbit, that's right. Percy put in it on, and Piper started speaking.

"There's an app you can get to go with it, if you want."

"I'll get it later." Percy said. Draco, Neville, and Luna returned then, Draco with Harry in tow.

"Mom, Paul, this is Draco, Luna, and Neville. They've been helping us catch up. And this is Harry, he's visited a few times."

"It's nice to meet you all. I've been doing quite a bit of catching up myself. I hope that perhaps Estelle can attend school here someday." Sally said in greeting.

"It's nice to meet you, Ms..."

"Jackson-Blofis. This is my husband, Paul Blofis-Jackson. Call me Sally."

"It's nice to meet you, Sally." Harry amended. Draco, Neville and Luna all handed Percy their gifts, all magical, of course. And then Clarisse, who proclaimed, "Hurry up and open them so we can eat, Prissy!" Percy only chuckled and set to opening everyone's gifts. Then I handed them mine.

"Thanks, Annabeth." They leaned over and kissed me before opening it. Underneath the blue wrapping paper, there was a gray box. They opened the box and gasped. Inside the box, there was a ring. The stones were lapis lazuli, a crystal opal, and platinum, held in a woven circle of Celestial Bronze. There were two other stones, both tourmaline. The band itself was a blend of Celestial Bronze, and black gold. I'd gotten Leo to make the band months ago, and a jeweler in New Rome had done the rest. I looked at Percy's face and knew the answer right away. They were smiling like I'd never seen them smile before.

"Yes." It was a whisper, only I could hear it, but I couldn't help it. I drew Percy down to me and kissed them, grinning into it when I heard everyone cheering.

"Now we really have to throw you in the lake!" Clarisse said, and Thalia and Nico helped her pick us up. Frank helped too, and our hands stayed connected the entire time.

"Wait, Clarisse. You wouldn't want this to get lost, would you?" Percy had their ring on their finger, so I was confused. Then I saw what they were holding. It was another ring, undoubtedly for me. They slipped it on my finger, and then we were in the icy water of the lake. Percy made a bubble around us, so I could breathe, and we kissed again, only breaking apart to laugh when we heard Harry above us.

"They could freeze in there! And there's the mermaids, and the giant squid!"

"Guess we have to go back up, Wise Girl," Percy said against my lips, still smiling. I wound my arms around their neck.

"Well, we don't have to," I said slyly, pulling away to look at their face. Percy laughed, and it rang clear and deep through the water.

"Race you to the top, Wise Girl." They gave me one last kiss and the bubble broke. We swam up. Thalia and Clarisse helped us out the lake.

"What- Why are you not wet?" Harry asked.

"We used a spell, duh. Did you really think we would let them get hypothermia?" Thalia rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, no," Harry said.

"Then that's that." Thalia told him. "Come on, you two, and let us see those rings while we eat." While we'd been under, they'd set up food. I looked at my ring for the first time. It seemed very similar to the one I'd gotten Percy, with a Celestial bronze design holding the three main stones in- I wasn't sure what they were- and two stones set on the outside. The band was, interestingly, Celestial bronze and what looked like white gold.

"So, Annabeth, what stones did you get for Percy?" Paul asked.

"I got lapis lazuli, a crystal opal, and a platinum stone for the main three. The ones on the outside are a teal tourmaline." I said. Percy held up their hand, and the opal caught the light in such a way that it made a rainbow across it.

"And Percy, what did you get for Annabeth?" Sally looked at her oldest child.

"A fire opal, cat's eye quartz, and star sapphire. Those are the main three. The two on the outside are pearls. I got those from my step-mother, Queen Amphitrite."

"And the bands are very interesting.... I've never seen anything like them." Paul said. "What are they?"

"Percy's is a blend of Celestial Bronze and black gold," I answered.

"Annabeth's is Celestial Bronze and white gold." Percy said. "Leo should know, I think he made them both."

Piper smacked Leo on the shoulder. "And you didn't say anything to anyone?"

"I couldn't ruin the surprise, Beauty Queen. And they both threatened me with death if I did say anything. Do know how terrifying it is to live under the fear of death from both Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson?"

"No, I can't say I do," Piper laughed. "Now that we know what the rings are, how about we eat?"

"Yes!" Everyone said. And so we all sat and ate. There was casserole, pasta, salads, pulled pork, rolls, chicken, vegetables, and a lot more. There was something for everyone, and then some. After eating, we sat and talked for a while.

"So, Sally, where did you go to school, having grown up in America?" Neville asked.

"I didn't go to Ilvermorny, I went to public school- muggle schools, I guess you would say. I'm a muggleborn, and my uncle didn't let me go. I've been attending classes for a about a year or so now, though." Neville nodded.

"I didn't know that, Mom," Percy frowned at her.

"I don't tell you everything, Percy." Sally said, smiling.

"Oh. So Percy, you're what, then? A half-blood?" We all snickered into our hands when Harry asked that.

"I'm not sure."

"Are you a squib?"

"They're not a squib, Harry. They have magic." Draco drawled. "Just because they didn't learn traditionally doesn't mean anything." Only five of us actually had magic- Reyna, Calypso, Percy, Leo, and Hazel. The rest of us had been blessed by Hecate and given magic, so I guessed we would be muggleborns.

"So where did all of you learn?" Harry asked. He couldn't just leave it alone, could he.

"Frank, Hazel, Jason, and I learned at a year-round camp. Piper, Leo, Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, and Clarisse learned at a summer camp. We met when they had an exchange program." Reyna said.

"And what about you?" Harry looked at Calypso.

"I'm self-taught, mostly."

"Okay." Sally, thankfully, had noticed that Harry's line of questioning had put us all on guard, and she stepped in.

"Nico, I have a message from Will for you." Sally handed Nico a rolled up scroll. No doubt it was one of Leo's devices. I wondered why Will couldn't have just texted Nico, but then remembered that our phones didn't seem to work out here. Then I wondered why he hadn't Iris-messaged, but decided it wasn't any of my business.

"Thanks, Sally. I'll look at it later. Perhaps we should have cake now?" Thank gods most of us are excellent at changing the subject.

"I don't see why not." Sally smiled and Paul grabbed the cake out of the basket. It was a big cake, mostly blue and white. Thalia grabbed the basket and pulled out candles. She tossed them to Leo.

"Put them on the cake. I have to find something." She started digging through the basket before remembering she could just use magic to find it.

"Accio cake topper," A candle that looked suspiciously like a combination of our rings flew into her hand.

"So, do you two want to use this now or wait until you have an engagement party?" Thalia asked. Percy and I glanced at each other.

"We'll wait." I told her.

"Alright then. Leo, light it up." Leo pulled out his wand, though most of us knew he didn't need it for this, and lit all the candles soundlessly.

"You can already do spells without speaking?" Harry asked.

"Harry, calm down. They all grew up in America, where they persecuted witches not too long ago. Of course they can do magic silently. And besides, Leo has a talent for fire."

"Please tell me we don't have to sing that infernal song," Clarisse grunted.

"Don't worry, Clarisse, I won't make you sing." Percy laughed before blowing out all the candles.

"Happy birthday, Percy!" We all half-shouted when they did.

"Thanks, everyone," Percy began to cut the cake, giving everyone a slice before cutting a big one and sitting by me.

"What? I don't get a slice, Jackson?" I asked.

"I was thinking we could share," They grinned, and I was reminded of our last date, months ago now.

"Well, if that's what you were thinking," I said, and stole the fork from their hand. I dipped it in the cake and popped it in my mouth. Percy didn't even bothering trying to take the fork, just laughed at me.

"Are you gonna share, Chase?"

"Maybe." I popped another bite into my mouth, then relented and gave Percy a bite. We alternated bites, repeatedly stealing the fork from each other. When we had one bite left, Percy put in it my mouth and then kissed me.

"You know, Chase, blue teeth looks good on you."

"Oh, shut up, Jackson," I grinned at them anyway.

"Can I have a kiss?" In answer, I leaned over and kissed them.

"Oi, lovebirds, let's get inside. It looks like rain." Clarisse said.

"Paul and I have to leave. See you later, sweetheart," Sally hugged Percy and then me. "You two better let me know what last you pick."

"We will, Mom," Percy promised. "See you, Paul." Percy shook Paul's hand, hugged their sister, and then Sally again.

"We'll see you as soon as we can. Promise," Percy said, and then Sally, Andrina, and Paul were gone.

"You can't Apparate in or out of Hogwarts' grounds." Harry said, frowning. "So how did they do that?"

"I allowed them to, Mr. Potter. Now, I believe that the Weasleys are waiting for you and Mr. Malfoy. Ms. Lovegood, Mr. Longbottom, I believe you also have business to handle?" Headmistress McGonagall to the rescue. "And I know that they all have homework to do, so you best be off." Chastised, Harry left with Draco. Neville left a moment later, and then Luna. The twelve of us followed McGonagall inside.

"I do think that after all these years, Miss Granger has rubbed off on Potter. He doesn't often question people like he did you." I heard her mutter as we walked to our common room.

"So, are you two going to have an engagement party soon?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know, Hazel. We might not have one, what with school starting soon." I told her.

"Well, you could have it over Christmas," Jason said. "We could go back to Camp Half-blood and have it there. Or you could wait until summer."

"I suppose. We do have two weeks at Christmas." Percy answered. "We'd have to let Chiron know at some point, and plan everything without being there."

"How about you pick out decorations, or maybe just a theme? I know that my siblings would die for a chance to plan your engagement party. You'd still have say, but wouldn't have to worry about planning the party directly while in school. And then when we go back, you can adjust things," Piper suggested. I glanced at Percy. They seemed to like the idea.

"I don't see why that wouldn't work," I said. I was still unsure about the whole thing, but Piper didn't need to know that.

"Let me know when you decide, and I'll whip something up so you can contact them," Leo put in.

"We will," Percy said, squeezing my hand.

"I'm going to go back to training," Jason said. "It's been too long since I've actually trained well."

"I think I'll join you," Reyna said. "Thalia? You in?"

"Yeah, I'm in." Thalia grinned.

"I'm going to stay here and read." Piper settled onto a couch with a book.

"I'll train with you," Clarisse said.

"Is anyone else going to train?" Jason asked. After getting a collective 'no', the four set off. I grabbed a copy of the seventh year Ancient Runes book and sat down to study. Percy grabbed their own copy and sat down next to me.

"I'm going to see what Will sent me," Nico said. I hummed in response. I didn't know what Hazel, Frank, Leo, and Calypso were doing, but I didn't particularly care. I was curled up next to my Percy- my significant other-, studying for what I was sure would be my favorite subject, and I was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 3093
> 
> Translations (from google translate. If you have better ones let me know.): Παραιτούμαι; = Give up?
> 
> Κάνε με. = Make me. 
> 
> εάν επιμένεις. = If you insist.
> 
> Εγκαταλείπουμε, = We give up
> 
> Can you believe that in three days it'll have been a year since I first posted this? I can't thank you all enough for the support and love you have shown me (and these characters). I won't be updating as often, though I will update when I can. I wanted to get a chapter out before school started. It wasn't supposed to be this long, though. What are your thoughts on Percy and Annabeth's engagement? What do you think their engagement party should be like? Should they even have an engagement party? Let me know in the comments.
> 
> Love ya,
> 
> Phoenix
> 
> 10/7/17- I got Ship of The Dead, so I changed Percy's sister's name to the canon.


	13. Chapter Twelve: Lunch and Questions

{Ginny’s POV}

I wrapped my arms around Luna’s waist as she stood in front of the fireplace.   
“It’s okay, then? That the American students join us for lunch?”  
“Yes, Luna, it’s fine.” I said.   
“I can’t wait to meet them. I wonder what life in America is like. And it will be good for them to meet more students before school starts anyway. We can show them around Hogwarts, it’ll be fun!”   
“They don’t need to be shown around Hogwarts. They’ve been living there for three months now.” Draco said.  
“Why?” I asked.  
“To get caught up on culture here, and to teach them a few spells they don’t use as frequently over there.” Neville answered. “Shall we go, then? We don’t want to be late.” We all Apprauted to our chosen spot, in front of Flourish and Blott’s. The Americans were already there, waiting.   
“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m Hermione Granger.”  
“Nice to meet you, I’m Annabeth,” A blonde girl smiled, stepping forward to shake our hands. I could tell instantly that the person -boy?- beside her was going to cause trouble. The brooding expression, the dark hair, the brown skin- people would go crazy.  
“This is Percy, my partner.” I noticed the rings on their fingers. They didn’t look nearly old enough to be married- they couldn’t be more than twenty years old, not if they were coming to Hogwarts.   
“Hi.” Percy waved, smiling.  
“I’m Ginny Weasley. These are my brothers, Ron and George.” I said, noticing that they had arrived. Finally.  
“It’s good to see you again, Calypso.” Neville said. “And you, Thalia.”  
“Nico, when is that boyfriend of yours coming to visit?” Draco asked, and I followed his gaze to the scowling… Fourteen year old?  
“I don’t know. He doesn’t tell me everything.” Nico said sharply.  
“I’m sure he’ll visit soon, Nico.” A girl said.  
“Hazel, Frank, do you know something?” Another boy asked.  
“Why would we know anything, Leo?” Frank asked. He didn’t seem to like Leo much.  
“Let’s all calm down. We’re being rude, you know.”  
“Piper’s right. Hi, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, George. I’m Jason Grace. This is my girlfriend, Piper McLean.”  
“I’m Thalia, this is Reyna.” Thalia pointed her thumb at Reyna.  
“I’m Calypso. Leo is my boyfriend.” I tuned out for the rest of the introductions, figuring that Luna and Hermione would tell me what I needed to know.  
“Ginny, come on, let’s get our books.” Not that I would be getting new books. Ron would, but he had a job and the money to pay for it. Fred’s funeral, although George and Harry had insisted on helping to pay, had drained up what we had saved. I’d use Ron’s old ones. I wasn’t going to make George give up Fred’s. I knew he still had them, despite Mum’s nagging. I walked with Hermione and Luna into the shop.  
“Ah, back so soon, Ms. Chase? I swear you go through books like a child goes through candy.”  
“That is an apt description,” Percy chuckled. “We’re here for them to get their schoolbooks, though.” I noticed that he- they? She?- had a pygmy puff on their shoulder.   
“Lucky I have sets made up.” The clerk got all of our sets ready, and I realized with a shock that for the first time, I’d be taking classes with Hermione, Ron, and Harry. Draco stepped up before the rest of us could, paying for them all.  
“You didn’t need to do that, Malfoy.” Ron said lowly.  
“Think of it as a gift.” George thumped Ron on the head. We headed out.  
“Well, it’s lunch time now, so let’s eat and get to know each other a bit better.” George said. “Then I’ll leave you all to your shopping.” We headed over to the Leaky Cauldron- it was just about the only place with food in Diagon Alley. After we had settled in with our food, Ron started talking.  
“So, what is it like in America?”  
“It’s very different, that’s for sure. People are a lot louder, for one thing, and our food has actual flavor.” Percy said.  
“Percy, don’t be mean. We didn’t go to a traditional school, most of us were raised and taught in muggle schools for a while, and then at camps. So we don’t know anything about our own wizarding culture.”   
“Will you get more involved in your community when you return?” Hermione asked.  
“We might. I plan on going to college, and getting a job in the muggle world. I feel I’m a bit too connected to just leave it behind.” Annabeth said.  
“I’m still young, so I might.” Hazel laughed.  
“How old are you?” I asked, realizing a second later it was rather rude.   
“I’m fourteen.”   
“So will you be in fourth year, then?” George asked.  
“No, Hazel will be in eighth year, taking classes with the rest of us. Maybe with the exception of Weaslette and Luna, however.” He nodded to me and Luna. We wouldn’t be taking the same classes? “She’s smart enough for it-” So am I! “- and she’s learned all the material already. They all have, actually. I wouldn’t be surprised if they take the top of the class from us, Hermione.” Draco said.  
“We’ll see about that.” Hermione lifted her chin in challenge. The Americans exchanged looks, like they found it funny. I bet they’ll be running to Hermione for help before exams.  
“What are those rings for? Are you two married?” Hermoine asked Percy and Annabeth suddenly. They glanced at each other.  
“No, but we’re recently engaged.” They smiled at each other, and the pygmy puff on Percy’s shoulder poofed up.   
“Very recently, actually. Just a few weeks ago, wasn’t it?” Draco asked, teasing in a way I’d never heard.  
“Yes, Draco, you were there.” Percy rolled his- their??- eyes at him. “We got engaged on my eighteenth, August eighteenth.” Percy explained. It was August twenty-eighth. They’d been engaged for ten days.  
“Is that pygmy puff your familiar?” Hermione asked. I suppressed a grin- Hermione always wanted to know everything. I couldn’t say I wasn’t curious, though.  
“Oh, Tropica? Yeah, she’s my familiar.” Percy patted the teal-furred pygmy puff.  
“Do you have any other pets?”  
“I’ve got an owl,” Percy said coolly. Thalia, I think it was, jumped in.  
“Yeah, and I have a cat. Reyna here has her dogs, of course.” They all laughed like that was funny.  
“You can’t have dogs at Hogwarts,” Hermione frowned. They all started laughing harder.  
“So, tell us about yourselves.” Hazel said. “You know quite a bit about us now, anyway.” That was true. We knew that Thalia and Jason were siblings, and who was dating who, and that Nico and Hazel were related, but not how. They just knew our names and whatever they had been told.  
“Oh, I can’t believe I didn't do this from the start!” Hermione exclaimed. She looked at me and Luna, as if to check that it was okay. “Luna, Ginny, and I are dating. Thalia-” I was right, then. “- I also have a cat, and Ginny has her owl. None of us have anything so interesting as pygmy puff, though. Will you tell us more?”   
“Very Slytherin of you, Granger, that misdirection. But you did it so bluntly it’s no wonder you’re a Gryffindor. Now, it’s late in the afternoon, and you four-” He looked at Harry, Ron, Hermione and I pointedly- “Still have to get all of your school things. And Mr. Weasley here has to get back to his shop, I suppose.” Draco said. George stood and made his excuses, and left. Draco left with Luna and Neville, which irked me. Luna was our girlfriend, this was supposed a fun outing for the three of us. The Americans also said they had to get back to their lodgings and left. Only later that evening, long after we had finished shopping and returned home, did it occur to me that maybe the Americans had something to hide. And Malfoy knew what it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry that this chapter is short and rushed. I wanted to get something out before the end of the month. How'd I do with Ginny's POV? Comment what you thought! 
> 
> See you next time (which will include the Sorting at least, sorry about the buildup)
> 
> Love ya, 
> 
> Phoenix


	14. Chapter 13: Sortings and Pranks

*This chapter will have several POV changes.*

{Draco’s POV}  
Three months is far too short a time away from school. Well, at least the demigods will make things interesting this year in a way that hopefully doesn’t damage much more than egos. Their Sorting will be intriguing, to say the least. I walked into the Great Hall with Harry and then we went our separate ways, me to Slytherin, him to Gryffindor. That sparked some talk, certainly, but we had known it would. When all the students were seated, McGonagall stood up.  
“Students, welcome back to Hogwarts. Now, this year’s Sorting will be a little different. We have some students from America who are studying with us this year. They will be Sorted after the first years and joining the eighth year class.” That raised a lot of noise. The first years came in, and the demigods entered behind them, leaning against the back wall. I could see a bunch of people checking out Percy and Annabeth. When I looked around, I saw that most everyone was checking out one demigod or another. I tuned out the Sorting of the first years, only paying attention when someone joined our table.   
“Now that our first years have been Sorted, it’s time to welcome our American students to join us in this tradition.” McGonagall stood up again and hushed us all. Flitwick opened a second scroll and read the first name.  
“Thalia.” Not having her last name known meant she went first, of course. Thalia walked up. While most students were in robes, Thalia wore her customary black t-shirt and ripped jeans and a sly smirk that frightened most. It was no question where she was going.  
“Slytherin!” Thalia walked over and sat across from me.  
“Calypso!” Were they not going in alphabetical order with the demigods? I watched as students stared at her white dress, which I had been assured would not be making many other appearances. She likes jeans too much for that.  
“Ravenclaw!” The Hat bellowed.  
“Arellano, Reyna!” Reyna marched up to the stool, the first one actually wearing the robes. The Hat took a moment or two with her before deciding Gryffindor.  
“Chase, Annabeth!” Annabeth had broken the rules already, out of her robes and wearing a sweater and jeans. She got Ravenclaw, which was obvious.  
“Di Angelo, Nico!” Nico, to everyone’s surprise in his black jeans and t-shirt, got Hufflepuff. I caught Harry’s eye, and he looked at me like, “Why are you so interested in their Sorting?” Thalia saw me raising my eyebrow at him and smirked. “Ten galleons says Percy ends up in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.” She whispered.   
“Deal.” The way I saw it, Percy had a chance at all four Houses, but was far more likely to end up in Slytherin or Ravenclaw.  
“Grace, Jason!” Jason too was wearing robes as he joined Nico at the Hufflepuff table.  
“Jackson, Percy!” Percy wasn’t even trying to follow uniform (but then again, half of them hadn’t bothered.) Wearing a teal skirt and white button-down with a white cape was over the top, though. Ten minutes later, Thalia was handing me ten galleons as Percy sat down next to her.  
“LaRue, Clarisse!” She looked so uncomfortable in the robes that I almost felt bad for her.  
“Gryffindor!” I appeared to be the only one surprised by this. She would’ve made a good Slytherin.  
“Levesque, Hazel!” Hazel was wearing the robes, of course.  
“I think she’ll be Slytherin or Hufflepuff.” Percy said lowly. “She’s smart and brave too, but after the Hat’s song, I’m more inclined to those two for her.”   
“Or you just want her out of trouble because you see her as a little sister.” Thalia teased them.  
“Hufflepuff!” Hazel sat next to Nico and grabbed a bagel out of his hands. Where he had gotten the bagel I did not know.  
“McLean, Piper!” That got some whispers from the muggleborns. I had no idea what she was wearing. It looked like a combination of robes and a t-shirt.  
“Gryffindor!” Piper sat next to Clarisse.  
“Solace, Will!” I watched Nico nearly snap his neck turning to see Solace, who hadn’t come with them for some reason. He was actually wearing robes, but I had no idea where he’d gotten them from. He’d been in America the entire summer, as far I knew.  
“Hufflepuff!” Hazel moved over next to Jason, laughing, as Will slid into the space next to Nico. I figured that they’d be talking about their summers all night long.  
“Valdez, Leo!” Robes and a magical toolbelt are an interesting look and should only be tried if one is feeling particularly bold.  
“Ravenclaw!” Leo grinned and walked over to join Annabeth and Calypso.  
“Zhang, Frank!” Frank, having been convinced by Hazel to wear the robes, was the only one wearing them who didn’t look the slightest bit uncomfortable.   
“Gryffindor!” Frank seemed surprised by this, unlike Percy and even Thalia.  
“Now that all our students have been Sorted, please enjoy the feast.” McGonagall said from her seat. The platters filled themselves, and I rolled my eyes at all the first years gasping. Percy and Thalia filled their plates quickly. I took my time. The platters would refill themselves for a while anyway.  
“So, are you ready for our first prank?” Thalia asked Percy.  
“You know it.” They grinned. I eyed them.  
“Do I even want to know?” I asked.  
“Nope!” Thalia and Percy chorused. I shook my head and started eating. Next thing I knew, there was food flying everywhere.

{Fred’s POV}

I grinned as I heard the commotion in the Great Hall. I’d left after the Sorting, but now I had new pranksters to train! I went to the Slytherin table, where it seemed to be coming from.  
“Really, Thalia? A food fight?” I heard Malfoy ask.  
“No. That’s just the distraction.” Percy, I remembered, said. Thalia looked at a boy over the Ravenclaw table. “Wait until Leo gets going. It’s going to be great!” A few minutes later, I laughed as everyone’s clothes changed to huge dresses. These guys were good, I had to give them that. They changed their own clothing, too. They won’t get caught as easily that way, smart. The dresses seemed to reflect what clothing they had been wearing before. McGonagall had a green dress, for example, and most students had black dresses with a house crest.  
“Hello, you two! After dinner, follow me. Oh, and bring your little pranking buddy!” I said, and left before it could be blamed on me. One perk of being a ghost was that I was invisible when I wanted to be.

{Percy’s POV}

I walked up to the Sorting Hat.  
‘Hello, Percy Jackson.’  
‘Hello.’  
‘Your girlfriend’s in Ravenclaw, your cousins in Hufflepuff and Slytherin. None of your friends have gone to Gryffindor yet. But where to put you?’  
‘Well, that’s what you're here for, isn't it?’  
‘Sassy, aren’t you? Well, you certainly could go to Gryffindor. That’s not where your core lies, though. Perhaps Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff? You would do well in both. No, no, the best match for you is Slytherin.’  
‘You sure?’ In answer, the Hat shouted to hall. I joined Thalia and Draco and waited for the feast to being so we could play our prank.  
~*~  
I admired my new dress. Thalia, Leo, and I had spent weeks planning this prank. We had finally decided on old-fashioned dresses, with corsets, petticoats, hoops, and all. I personally had a mainly blue dress with a white underskirt. Making the spell to get this to work wasn’t easy, either. I looked at Draco, who had black and green on his dress. Then I heard a voice.  
“Hello, you two! After dinner, follow me. Oh, and bring your little pranking buddy!” I looked at Thalia, confused. She didn’t look very happy, which added to us not being suspect.  
“I’m sure the pranksters will be found. Whoever did this, if you could undo the spell soon, please. Go back to your dinners.” McGonagall said. She didn’t seem happy. Thalia and I looked at Leo, acting as though we just seeing if it hit our friends.  
“IT’S THOSE TWO!” Someone down the table screeched.  
“Now, Miss Parkinson, I’m sure it isn’t. They just got here, after all.” McGonagall glared at us nonetheless. Thalia and I rolled our eyes and Draco shivered.  
“Why are you two always in sync?”  
“Why, my dear Draco-” I started.  
“What fun would-” Thalia continued.  
“It be if we weren’t?” We finished. At the same time, we focused on the counterspell, and everyone’s dresses but ours- the rest of the demigods, of course- disappeared. Now it was an attack on us, to make us stand out. When people started leaving, Thalia and I left, too, keeping our heads down and looking embarrassed. Let them think we had no backbone. Let them think they were weak. They’d see, soon enough. Draco caught on and passed us, sneering. We followed him to the dungeon, ahead of the firsties.  
“Let’s run!” Thalia’s grin told me everything as soon as we were out of sight. We took off, laughing, down the corridor.  
“Wait! You can’t get in the common room, you don’t know the password!”  
“Aurantiaco pineapples!” Thalia and I chorused.  
“Leo picked it.” Thalia explained. “So we've known all the passwords for a week now.”  
“Nice. What do you think of the Slytherin dorms?” Draco asked.  
“I like how it’s split up instead of having everyone in one room, like I hear they do in Gryffindor.” Thalia said, looking at her phone. “Clarisse texted me.”  
“How plebeian. Of course, the girls’ stairs are warded so the boys can't get in there.” Draco said. “I wonder who I'm sharing with this year.”  
“Me!” I raised my hand. “And on the warded stairs matter, do you think I’ll be able to go to both dorms?”  
“It’s worth a try.” Thalia and I headed for her dorm to try it out, and it let us both in. Draco just stood at the bottom of the stairs.  
“So, we’re at the top this year.” I went back down the stairs and followed Draco to our dorm. It was on the other side of the common room, the stairs spiraling up to the top.  
“Hey, look, it’s one of the mermaids!” Draco pointed to a shadow across the glass. “I think they like you, I’ve never seen one this early in the year before.”  
“Well, I am the child of Poseidon.” I told him seriously.  
“Let’s get you out of that before everyone else gets here.” Draco changed the subject, looking at my dress.  
“Excuse you, this dress is excellent.” A second later, there was a poof and Draco stood there in only his underwear.  
“What is this?”  
“The last of the prank. Speaking of…” I trailed off, then hurried into the dorm to take off the dress (I was keeping it, it was cool) and put on boxers. Then I went to the common room with Draco, looking confused.  
“What’s going on? I was changing, then all the clothes I tried putting on kept going back to my trunk.” I asked.  
“No one knows. It’s happening to everybody, I think.” Someone said.  
“Alright, everyone, calm down. After we all have clothes on, we’ll give you a tour of the place. That includes you, Jackson and Thalia.” Someone said. I couldn’t place any voices with ones I’d heard at dinner.  
“Alright.” Draco and I went back upstairs. By the time everyone figured out that you had to trade clothes with someone else as so not to walk around in your underwear, everyone was pissed. The clothes were funny, though. I personally wore a pair of Thalia’s skinny jeans and one of Draco’s shirts.  
“I swear, when we find out who did that, they won’t leave the infirmary until school’s out!” A third year proclaimed.  
“Oh, pipe down. We just got the first years to go to sleep.” Someone else said, much quieter. Thalia and I exchanged looks and grinned. This was going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2006 words.  
> Hey everyone!  
> What did you think? Did you like the POV changes? or no?   
> I'll try to get another chapter up this month, I missed last month by a day. This was supposed to be up yesterday...


	15. Chapter 14: Class and Inquisitions

{Piper’s POV}  
I took my schedule and walked over to compare with Jason, even though I could have done that from my table. Apparently, this was a big mistake, because everyone fell silent when I arrived.  
“What do you have first period?” I asked.  
“I’ve got Herbology with the Ravenclaws.”  
“I’ve got double Potions with the Slytherins. It’ll be fun to talk to Percy and Thalia.” I didn’t say that Thalia wouldn’t tell me why they had left the Great Hall pretty close to first, and Percy wasn’t answering my text messages.  
“Um, Miss? I know you don’t know the rules yet, but you’re not supposed to talk to the Slytherins. I hear they’re all bloody evil.” A wide-eyed first year told me.  
“Well, I’m sure that can’t be true. All of them, evil? Percy and Thalia are good people, and they’re my friends. Would I be friends with someone evil?” I asked, smiling at them.  
“No, I guess not.” Everyone backed off after that.  
“We have Transfiguration together after lunch.” Nico said. I glanced at him and Will and saw they were holding hands. I don’t think they’ve stopped since last night.  
“I’ll see you then.” I kissed Jason on the cheek and went back to my table.  
“You ready for class, Clarisse?” I asked as I sat back down next to her.  
“Yeah.”  
“I wonder what’s gonna happen when they realize we’re ahead in all our classes. Hey, are you taking Arithmancy?”  
“No, but I’m taking Muggle Studies with Annabeth.”   
“Is Annabeth taking all the classes?”  
“I hope not. That would be bad. I wonder if she tested out of one.”  
“Wouldn’t we know if she had?”  
“Well, she doesn't have to tell us everything.” Clarisse shrugged. We finished eating and headed to Potions. Professor Slughorn didn’t seem too bad, but Draco- who had marked up his potions books all over- had taught us slightly different ways than what Slughorn was.  
“Today, we will be making the Draught of Living Death. Normally, I don’t have sixth and seventh years work in pairs, but for this potion, you will. I know most of you made this last year, but as this is our first lesson, it is a good way to see what you have remembered over the summer.” Naturally, Reyna and I started working together, and Thalia and Percy were working together. Draco and Clarisse shrugged, and set up in between us.  
“So, Draco, how do you know all of this?” Percy asked when Draco corrected the book yet again.  
“Severus Snape, my godfather, was the previous Potions Master here. He wrote in his books and never had us use the books in class, he just wrote on the board. He started teaching me potions as soon as I was old enough to show an interest in them. Also, I have his old potions books. I’m making the same marks in mine, and adding a few of my own changes as well. I suggest you do the same.” Draco paused in his work to show Percy something and look at their potion.  
“How did you get to be this color so quickly?” Draco asked. “It shouldn’t be pale pink yet.”  
“We added sea salt to the water and let it boil for a minute exactly, then followed the instructions you gave, Draco.” Thalia said. “The sea salt was my idea, boiling it for a minute was Percy’s.”  
“Well, write it down. We’ll have to see if it works.”  
“One hour is up! You have 30 minutes to finish, and then we’ll test the potions.” Slughorn announced, and I looked at the potion Reyna and I were making. It wasn’t pale pink quite yet, instead being a bright pink.  
“Add these.” Draco tapped the parchment sitting next to us, and as I crushed the sopophorous beans, Clarisse added the juice to the potion. When our potion turned pale pink, we continued with the instructions Draco had given us. I glanced at the book once or twice, and at a few other potions, but none seemed to be turning out as well any of ours. When the time came to test our potions, Slughorn handed everyone a leaf.   
“One of you drop a leaf in now, and if it doesn’t dissolve fully or at all, try fixing your potion. If it does, call me over and demonstrate.” Reyna, Draco, and Thalia dropped a leaf in, and all three dissolved.  
“Professor!” Draco called across the room. “We’ve got three working potions over here!” Slughorn hurried over and watched as I dropped my leaf in, then as Clarisse dropped her leaf in, and finally as Percy dropped their leaf in.  
“Good, good! Full marks for all of you and ten points each.” Slughorn said. Draco took out a box and opened it on his desk. It was full of glass phials.  
“Each of you, fill up three of these with your potion.” Was all he said before he started filling three of his own.  
“You want to experiment with them?” Percy guessed.  
“Yeah. Since Slughorn’s not likely to take on an apprentice anytime soon- that would require him to stay out of retirement longer- I’ll experiment by myself. You can help, if you want.” He looked at Percy and Thalia as he said it.  
“What class do you have next?” I asked Percy as we packed up.  
“Arithmancy, and then Herbology and Muggle Studies after lunch.”  
“Nice. When do you have Astrology?” I asked, glanced at my ‘timetable’. “I don’t have it until Wednesday.”  
“I tested out of that. So did Annabeth and Thalia. I bet you could too,” Percy said. So Annabeth had tested out of something.  
“Did you test out of anything else?” I asked.  
“Yeah, all three of us tested out of Ancient Runes. I think Nico did too.” Thalia put in.  
“So what are you taking?”  
“Potions, Herbology, Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Charms, History of Magic, Transfiguration DADA, and I’m taking Magical Theory with Annabeth and Leo,” Percy said.  
“We have five class periods per day, Percy. How are you taking nine classes?”  
“Schedules are weird here. Also, we have different classes every day, remember? So, I have Double Potions, Arithmancy, Herbology, and Muggle Studies today, then on Friday I have the same thing, but with Potions and a study period.” Percy explained as we walked out. “I gotta go meet Annabeth before Arithmancy. I’ll see you two at lunch.” Percy told Thalia and Draco before they ran off.  
“Hey, only 55 minutes until lunch,” I said. With our ten minute break, and then a 45 minute class, I was sure the morning would go quickly. Clarisse, Reyna, and I headed to the greenhouses.  
“Now, today we will be planting and identifying different herbs. At the end of class, I will check your arrangements. You may talk, but no helping one another with your identification.” Professor Sprout said. I wasn’t really worried about this class. I took my tray of plants and wondered if every class period would feel like a test.   
45 minutes later, hands covered in dirt, we made our way to lunch. Sprout had said that it wasn’t for a grade, just to see where we were at, and I guessed that proved that neither of us were up to where we should have been. We each got three wrong. But everyone else that I had seen had two or three wrong, too. We washed up and headed to lunch. As we ate, we noticed that the rest of our table seemed to be avoiding us. We soon found out why.  
“Why were you two talking to Slytherins during Double Potions?” A boy asked.  
“Because they’re our friends.” I answered.  
“But they’re evil now.”  
“Having a certain House does not make one evil, Mr. Creevy.” McGonagall stood above us. “I can name quite few Gryffindors who joined Voldemort, and Slytherins who fought against him.”  
“Of course, Headmistress McGonagall.” He said.  
“It would do you well to remember that the House rivalry is friendly. It is not to taken into account when making friends.” She swept away. I started eating mashed potatoes, wondering where the fruits were. I didn’t see any on the table. In fact, all I saw was carbs and meat. Not very friendly to a vegetarian. Clarisse caught a bowl of strawberries going around and dumped some on my plate. When given questioning looks, she said, “She doesn’t eat meat.” Meaning that I wouldn’t eat most of the food on the table. I thanked her and ate the strawberries slowly. We had an hour for lunch, after all. As I sat there, daydreaming, I didn’t notice everyone leaving.  
“Piper, let’s go. We’ve got to get to Transfiguration.” Jason shook my shoulder, and I stood with him and walked to class.  
After dinner, I had the feeling we were all expected to go to our common rooms, but instead our group went to the ROR.  
“So, how’d classes go?” Reyna asked as everyone settled in.  
“Arithmancy is a lot harder than I thought it would be.” Annabeth admitted. “But it’s a lot of fun.” Behind her, Percy was shaking their head and mouthing ‘no’.  
“How was Potions?” Jason asked. “I have it tomorrow after lunch.”  
“Slughorn seems pretty nice.” Percy said. “He didn’t seem to mind when we bottled up our potions.”  
“Yeah, we all got full marks. Just follow the notes Draco gave you and you should be fine.” Thalia said.  
“We will.” Will said. Then McGonagall walked in.  
“I am aware that you may not know all the rules, but it is customary for students to return to their common rooms after dinner. However,” She smiled a bit roguishly, “If Hogwarts were to give you paths to a meeting place, then I couldn’t object.” Then we noticed the doors, one for each House. “For tonight, you are going to have to return to your common rooms now. Perhaps tomorrow you all have a free hour lined up?” With that, she left. After saying our goodnights, we all took the path back to our Houses, scaring our Housemates near to death, I’m sure, when we opened an unseen door. Reyna, Clarisse, and I went straight up to our dorm, which we shared with the other four girls of our year. We changed into pajamas and sat on our beds to do our homework and study.  
“What are you three doing up here so soon?” One of them asked, coming into the room. “I’m Lavander, by the way.”  
“We’re studying.” Reyna answered coolly.  
“Already? We’re not taking our NEWTs into the end of the year, you know. Did you pass your O.W.L.s? Well, I guess you must have, and then some.”  
“Yes, we passed our O.W.L.s. We took them in the middle of the summer.”  
“What did you get?” Lavender asked.  
“It’s none of your business.” Clarisse said.  
“What classes are you taking? Are you still taking the core classes?”  
“Yes, all of them.” I said, hoping she’d just leave us alone.  
“At NEWT level?”  
“What other level would we be taking them at?” Reyna asked. I wondered if anyone else was getting grilled like this.  
“And electives?”  
“I’m taking Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes.” Clarisse said.  
“Are you going to go into something involving muggles, then?”  
“I haven’t decided yet.”   
“And you two? What are taking?” she asked Reyna and I.  
“I’m taking Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes.” I said.  
“And I’m taking Ancient Runes and Divination.” Reyna finished. “Now, we’re trying to study, could you please leave us alone.” Lavender took the hint and left. We sat studying in peace for a while before everyone else came up.  
“I’m going to bed.” I told Reyna and Clarisse. “I can’t study any more.” We put away our books and closed the curtains around our beds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1901
> 
> Hey everyone! Second update this month, and a week after the last one, no less! My original goal for this chapter was to have it done by the 16th. But hey, it's done now, so I'm eight days early. What do you think? 
> 
> Love ya,
> 
> Phoenix 
> 
> P.S. Isn't Inquisitions such a fun word?


	16. Chapter 15: Diagon Alley and Stars

{Will’s POV}

I wrapped my arm around Nico. We were in Diagon Alley. The headmistress had given us permission to go buy a few things I hadn’t picked up, and I was doubling it as a date.  
“Where are we going next?” Nico asked me.  
“I was thinking we could go to Hogsmeade and eat lunch at the Three Broomsticks.” I said. “Then we can go back to Hogwarts and do some homework-” Nico groaned at that- “and after night falls we can go watch the stars.”  
“Sure.” Nico said. We went to the Leaky Cauldron and asked to use the Floo. It was the only way we could travel, neither of us knowing how to Apparate, and Nico’s shadow travel would be too suspicious. When we popped out in the Three Broomsticks, several customers jumped, but Madam Roberta had been expecting us. We sat down and ordered.  
“So, did you like your surprise?” I asked Nico.  
“You know I did.” He grumbled. “I kinda like seeing you. It’s part of being your boyfriend.”  
“I know. I didn’t think I would be able to come; Chiron sprung it on me and of course I said yes.” Our food arrived and Nico and I started eating.  
“How are you liking Hogwarts?” Nico asked.  
“I’ve only been here a week, Nico.” I had a lot of catching up to do. “But the classes are different, and most of the students I meet are friendly enough. Besides, we have all our classes together. What could be better than that?” I grinned at Nico trying to hide his smile behind his hand. I was glad I’d agreed to come; if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have seen that until the holidays started.  
“I like that we get to be the most known exceptions to the rule and be friends with Slytherins. Everyone says we shouldn’t.” Nico said.  
“Yeah. I mean, it would be really easy for Thalia- and Percy, for that matter- to go dark. If either of them did, I’d run the other way. But they won’t. How have your nightmares been?” I asked.  
“They’ve been better. I don’t dream of Tartarus quite so much.”  
“That’s good.” I smiled at him and checked the time as our plates were taken away. “We should be heading back now.” Nico and I paid and stepped out into the chilly air. It was still only fall, but already the winds blew cold. We went back to the Hogwarts, meeting Jason in the common room.  
“How was your date?” Jason asked. Piper was curled up next to him on the chair.  
“It was fun.” Nico said. “Have you seen Reyna or anyone today?”  
“I saw Reyna and Clarisse this morning, but that’s it. I think Percabeth is down in the lake. I don’t know where anyone else is.”  
“Percabeth?” Nico raised an eyebrow at her.  
“That’s what the Aphrodite cabin calls them. There are stacks of CDs and three different playlists ‘for’ them.” Piper groaned. “I swear, my siblings are obsessed with them.”  
“And for good reason.” I chuckled. “They’ve technically been engaged since their first quest, five years ago.” Piper shot up.  
“Please tell me you’re kidding.”  
“Nope. So, in Ancient Greece, throwing an apple to a girl was a proposal. They played hacky sack with an apple. They’re been engaged for years and didn’t even know it.” I grinned. It was a story often told around camp when Percy and Annabeth weren’t there.  
“Oh my gods why.” Piper buried her face in a pillow., then stood up and yanked Jason to his feet. “Come on, Sparky, we’re going to the Astronomy Tower.” Nico and I took their spots on the couch, and I Summoned our homework. It was one of the few spells I knew. We started working on our potions essay, but didn’t work for long. We ended up quizzing each other on Herbology and giving kisses as rewards for correct answers.  
“You two are still here? It’s dinner time, let’s go eat.” Piper all but dragged us to the Great Hall. “You can continue studying later.” Since it was Saturday, we all gathered at one table for every meal. Our Heads of Houses hadn’t protested, just told us that on school days we had to sit with our houses.  
“So, how did shopping go?” Percy asked.  
“It went well.” I told them. “We stopped for lunch on the way back. What did you do today?”  
“Annabeth and I spent the day getting to know some of the mermaids and the giant squid.” Percy was wearing one of Annabeth’s sweaters. It was too small, so it had ended up being a crop top. I wondered where Percy’s scars were. They’d been fighting for years; they had to have at least a few. Unless he had the Mist covering them…  
“Reyna and I spent the day training.” Thalia said. “I suggest that tomorrow you all join us. We need to be ready for anything.” She cut a glance at Percy and Annabeth, no doubt thinking what I was: They, and Nico, actually, hadn’t gained back enough weight. They shouldn’t be training.  
“Sounds good.” Percy said, taking a bite of steak. I glanced at the other tables. They were all full of unhealthy food. Our table, and the Slytherin table, were the only ones with healthy food. I knew from Piper that they had almost no fruit or vegetables at the Gryffindor table until she went to elves and requested some.  
“So, how’s homework going?” Annabeth asked.  
“I don’t have any; I turned it all in early.” Leo admitted.  
“I have one inch to write for an essay, but that’s it.” Percy said. Everyone agreed: They had very little homework left to do. Nico and I had to write five inches on our potions essays, but that wouldn’t be too hard.  
“So how about we train after breakfast until lunch, and then take the afternoon to do homework?” Annabeth suggested. “That way we don’t have to worry about it and the homework we’ll get this week.”  
“That sounds like a good idea. Then we can all turn it in early and show our dedication to ‘catching up’ with our peers.” Clarisse said, laughing. I was the only one behind; but with all my friends tutoring me, I’d catch up soon. I’d read all the textbooks already, I just needed to get to technique down.  
“Oh, that’s what I’d forgotten!” Calypso exclaimed. Hazel jumped, and Frank caught her before she could fall into her food.  
“Sorry, Hazel.”  
“It’s fine. Go on, tell us what you’d forgotten.” Hazel urged.  
“I was in the infirmary the other day. I escorted a student up there.” Annabeth and Leo nodded. They had all their classes with her. “Madam Pomfrey had heard somehow that you are doctor, Will. She wants you to help her.”  
“I’ll go speak with her tomorrow.” I promised. I tuned out the chatter for a while and just ate. Nico had filled his plate, but I wasn’t sure he’d eat it all.  
“Why are you watching me eat?” He finally asked quietly.  
“I’m just worried.”  
“I’ll eat it all, Will. I’ve been eating better. I’ve gained twenty pounds, remember? It’s Percy and Annabeth you gotta watch out for.”  
“That doesn’t mean I can’t worry; and besides, twenty pounds only puts you at where you were before. I want you to gain at least forty more, to get you to a healthy weight.” As dinner ended, the chatter died down, and I called Percy and Annabeth over as everyone left.  
“Before breakfast tomorrow, I want to check you two out. I’m not sure you should be training.”  
“Why not?” Percy asked.  
“Because I’m certain you’re both underweight still, and your lungs haven’t healed either.” I told them. “Be in the RoR at seven.” I didn’t give them a chance to respond, walking over to Nico. I took his hand. “Let’s go to the Astronomy Tower and watch the stars.” Nico and I layed in the Astronomy Tower for hours, naming constellations and going over the stories we knew for them.  
“Maybe someday, we’ll be written in the stars.” Nico said. “Maybe another couple will lay here and recount our story.”  
“Maybe.” I grinned and looked over at him, then looked away. “Or maybe the Fates, or the gods, will see fit to make us immortal. Maybe we’ll help at camp. Maybe we’ll be forgotten and fade into nothingness, but be heroes in Elysium forever. Maybe we’ll end up in the Isles of the Blest.” I looked back at Nico and realized he’d fallen asleep. I picked him up and carried him to bed. When he was tucked in, looking peaceful in a way I never saw during the day, I smiled. I climbed into bed, happy with the knowledge that Nico felt comfortable enough in a strange place, surrounded by strangers, to fall asleep next to me. That he trusted me enough to take care of him. I fell asleep smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1501
> 
> Hey everyone!
> 
> Three updates in one month. Not too bad, if you ask me. Part of the reason I wanted to get more out this month was because bowling has started, and this is exam week, so next week I start new classes (and I have all my core classes next tri, so it's going to be hard to update often over the next twelve weeks) and I just won't have time to write nearly as much as I'd like. All news aside, what did you think of the chapter? Did I do Will justice? Please comment your thoughts; I love interacting with my readers.
> 
> Au revoir, chers lecteurs 
> 
> Phoenix


	17. Chapter Sixteen: New Class and Another Engagement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is trying to figure out those Americans- they just don't make any sense to him. Perhaps you should try talking to them, Harry, that might help.

{Harry’s POV}

As Halloween approached, I kept noticing different things about the new students. Like how on weekends they disappeared for hours on end and no one seemed to care.  
“Hey!” I turned to see one of the American girls who had joined Gryffindor. “Harry, right? Your friends asked me to give this to you.” It was just parchment, but I knew better than to take it. “Said something about figuring out how to put the RoR on the map…” She trailed off, and I all but snatched the parchment from her. “I'm Piper, by the way.” She held out her hand and I shook it.  
“Thanks.”  
“No problem. See you around.” She jogged away. Who jogs in a crowded corridor? I tucked the parchment in my pocket and headed for class.  
At lunch I watched as the American girls- Piper and two others- sat next to Ginny and Hermione and laughed. Ginny noticed me looking and waved me over.  
“Harry, this is Clarisse-" She pointed to the bulky brown-haired girl- “Reyna-" The black haired girl- “And Piper.” She had a feather in her hair.  
“We've met.” Piper flashed me a smirk. “Don't just stand there. Sit down and talk with us.” I sat down obediently.  
“So, what do you normally do here for Halloween?” Clarisse asked.  
“We have giant pumpkins, live bats, a feast. It’s great, you’ll love it.” Ginny promised them with a smile.  
“Annabeth and I had been reading up on Samhain. I wonder when they switched from that to Halloween.” Piper said.  
“Oh, sometime in the 1860’s.” Hermione told her.  
“She read it in Hogwarts, A History.” Ginny and I chorused. Ginny glanced at me. “Harry, Ron’s alone over there. Why don’t you go join him?”” Taking the hint, I said my goodbyes and left. A few minutes later, the girls were laughing and talking as though I hadn’t been there.  
“Kick you out, did they?” Ron asked when he saw me coming.  
“Yeah. I don’t know if I’ll ever figure those Americans out.”  
“Don’t try.” Ron advised me, his mouth full of food. “Let them do what they do and we'll be having a peaceful school year for once.” He swallowed and continued. “Did you see that new class they added? I think everyone has to take it, which bloody well sucks. We don’t even know who the teacher is!” I hadn’t, but I didn’t tell Ron that. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Americans leave the table, and down at the other tables they were leaving too. I wondered if it had anything to do with the new class.  
“Maybe we all have today just to see we’ll like it.” I suggested. “Maybe Hermione and Ginny know more about it.” We moved over to sit by them.  
“Have you heard about the new class?” I asked.  
“Yes, actually. I bet it’s going to be great.” Hermione told us. She definitely knew something.  
“You can’t tell us anything about it, can you?” Ron said.  
“No.”  
“Or you tell us.” I said.  
“Either way, you’re not finding out.” Ginny said. “Now leave us alone, Luna’s coming over and we’d like some private time.” We left the Great Hall this time, joining the students trickling out. We headed to the classroom that the new class would be held in. It didn’t even have a name.  
“Hey, everyone! Come on in!” The teacher was… an American. “As you can see, I will be teaching you, but it’s not only me.” A dozen other students, Ron, and I all stepped inside warily, unsure what this teenager could teach us. Hermione came in a minute later with Luna and Ginny.  
“This class is for seventh and eighth years only, and is not optional.” The blond girl, Annabelle maybe? said. “We will be your professors and as such will be receiving the same respect as your other professors when you are in our classroom.”  
“Most of you already us from your classes. I'm Professor Valdez.” I remembered. He'd been Sorted into Ravenclaw. They went down the line and introduced themselves.  
“Now, in this class you will be studying different forms of self-defense, both physical and mental.” Would they teach us Occlumency? I tried to catch Hermione’s eye, but if she knew anything she wasn't letting on.  
“Today we're starting with mediation.” Jackson said. A wave of twelve wands later, and the desks were pillows and blankets.  
“Make yourselves comfortable.” Reyna told us. Hermione had her hand in the air.  
“Yes, Miss… Granger?” Clarisse asked.  
“How do you know wandless magic already?”  
“We study a lot. Because we never had formalized training, we have a lot to catch up on.” Solace answered her. “Any questions relevant to the course?” No one raised their hand, and Hermione flushed. Solace nodded to Grace, who stepped forward to start us off.  
“This will come differently to everyone. Whether you feel it best to close your eyes, or leave them open-” I noticed that Hermione had a quill going, and so did the Americans. “-Feel free to do whatever is most comfortable to you.” From another part of the room, Di Angelo spoke. I hadn't even noticed him move. “Sit cross legged and breathe in on a four-count. Hold for a seven-count. Exhale for an eight-count.” I closed my eyes, and someone else started speaking. “Release your thoughts and relax your body. Don't stop counting.” For the first lesson, all we did was sit on the floor and breathe. Couldn't they have thought of something better?  
“I wish we would have actually done something.” I told my friends as we left for Potions. Hermione glared at me.  
“We did do something! It was very relaxing. Mediating will help organize our thoughts and eventually I’m sure we'll learn how to guard them.” I did feel calmer, but that didn't mean I had to like mediating. Plenty of things made me feel calm. And they hadn’t even told us what we were doing it for. What were we preparing for that we had to mediate for an entire period?  
I watched as Draco worked with Piper, Clarisse, Reyna, Jackson, and Thalia. They all got full marks or near it every time. After Potions, Draco walked me to Charms.  
“What’s bothering you?” He asked. “Is it that I’m working with them during Potions?” I didn’t have to ask who ‘them’ was. I shook my head. It wasn’t that.  
“Why would they let a bunch of teenagers teach?” I blurted.  
“Maybe because they have something to teach us. They did things very differently. There’s a chance we’ll learn some of those methods.”  
“If they’re only here for a year, what’s the point?” I asked. “I mean, they don’t even know what they’re doing. They had a quill writing down everything that was said!”  
“They’re here for a year. If the class is continued, someone will need to teach it.” I hadn’t thought of that.  
“Or they could just come back and teach again.” I suggested. It was true. Maybe I’d be seeing more of the Americans than I thought. Draco just hummed.  
“Picnic at the lake for dinner?” He asked suddenly.  
“Yeah.” It’d been a while since we’d done a real date- mostly because of school.  
“Good, because I’ve already cleared it with McGonagall. I’d have to take Daphne if you said no.” He laughed and kissed my cheek. “I’ll see you then.” He walked back down the corridor, hips swaying. I shook my head at his retreating figure and entered the classroom. Charms was almost laughingly easy, and I didn’t think that Chase would have any homework. No one could say she didn’t know her stuff. I wondered how much studying she had done over the summer to catch up. I knew Draco had been tutoring them. Bloody hell, I had came to see them over the summer. I was there when Chase and Jackson got engaged. I had a free period next, so I went to the library with Hermione. I had plans to graduate this year and hopefully sign on as a teacher's assistant next year. I didn't think an Auror was for me; not any more. I'd had my fair share of death, thank you very much. And in fifth year, I had liked teaching the DA. I figured that maybe in a few years I could apply to be the DADA here. I didn't think McGonagall would turn me down. If she did, I didn't know what I'd do. Maybe I'd travel, then. I had the money for it. Hermione nudged me.  
"Harry, we came here to study, not get lost in our heads." I smiled sheepishly at her.  
"Sorry, just thinking about the future."A soft smile slid across Hermione's lips.  
"I understand that." She said softly. "I, for one, cannot wait to find out about maybe getting a job as a barrister. Draco told me he thought I'd be good at it. I've been doing some reading on it, and I think I'd like it. And of course, there's after Luna and Ginny graduate to think about. Are we going to move in together? Get married? And what about kids?" I put my hand on hers.  
"That's not for a year, and as for the rest of them, they can wait."  
"Do you and Draco have anything planned?" She asked.  
"I think we might live at the Manor while Draco studies for his Healer's exams. As for me, I might be back here next year, as a teacher's assistant. I'm thinking of taking the DADA job. It'd be a year or two, because I've got-" Hermione squealed, but quickly quieted herself.  
"That'd be such a good job for you, Harry. You liked doing the DA, didn't you? I think you'll like it. You and Neville can go together to apply for the positions. Neville will got the one as Spourt's assistant, I'm certain of it. You should go this weekend before the spots are filled."  
"I had no idea the competition was that stiff." I chuckled.  
"Oh yes." Hermione nodded seriously. "I hear that Daphne Greengrass is going to be a Healer as well, and that she's going to be Madam Pomfrey's apperitance for next year. I haven't heard much else, but there aren't really many positions open anyway. Well, if you’re going to be the DADA TA, we better do the homework." I opened my book and started writing my essay. It was on curses that were appropriate to use in a fight and ones that would warrant a trial, or at least a check up, by the Ministry. Some of it was more ways to avoid getting caught than anything, and I grinned. As I put my essay into my bag, I cast a Tempus and saw that it was nearly time for dinner.  
"Thanks for letting me study with you, Hermione. I got a lot done. I'm sorry to be leaving, but Draco and I have a picnic dinner planned. I'll see you later?" I stood and stretched before grabbing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder.  
"No, you didn't." Hermione laughed. "You only finished that essay and gained plans for tomorrow. Have fun on your date!"  
"Bye, Hermione." She was right, though. I now had yet another thing to add to my horribly busy schedule: Classes, homework, and Quidditch practice. It was a shame, really, that the Americans wouldn't be playing. I'd bet most of them would fall off their brooms in an instant. I stopped by Gryffindor Tower and dropped my bag off.  
"Hey, Harry. Would you like to walk down to dinner with us?" Ginny and Ron were in the common room.  
"I'll walk you down to the Great Hall after I put my bag away." I offered. "I have a date with Draco this evening, so I can't stay."  
"Then put your bag away, mate, can't leave him waiting, can you?" Ron said. I jogged up the stairs and tossed my bag onto my bed hurriedly, nearing braining poor Neville with it.  
"Hermione told me that you're going to as for a position as a TA next year, Neville. Would you like to go with me tomorrow?" I asked.  
"You're applying too? This could harder than I thought..." Nevilled trailed off.  
"I'm applying for an entirely different position, don't worry. I don't think I would make the best Herbology teacher, it's not my best subject." Yeah, my grades were high enough that I could, but it wasn't my favourite, so I'd rather not do teach Herbology. "I'm going to the DADA post. I'm hoping that in a couple years I'll be the DADA teacher."  
"You did really well teaching the DA, Harry, I know you'll get it!" Funny, that's what Hermione had said too.  
"I thought you were going to be an Auror, Harry." Ron said, looking confused. I shrugged.  
"I don't think being an Auror is really Harry's thing, Ron." Ginny cut in. "He had such fun with the DA, desperate times though they were, and he's good at teaching."  
"And besides, I've saved the world enough. Died enough, too." I told him. "But we're wasting time. You three have to get to the Great Hall and I have to get the lake." We walked down together in comfortable silence as until we parted ways.  
"Harry! I was beginning to think you weren't coming!" Draco's tone was light, but I could see that he had really been worried.  
"Sorry. I got caught up in the library and then with Ron, GInny, and Neville. And you know as well as I do that I wouldn't miss one of our dates if I was on my deathbed."  
"I hope it doesn't come to that." Draco murmured, taking my hand and kissing me. He pulled away reluctantly. "Let's sit and eat. We have a few things we need to talk about." That was never a good sentence. Draco pulled treacle tarts out of the basket. "For later, Harry." Then he pulled out breakfast foods, toast and eggs that been charmed to stay warm, marmalade, jam, butter, orange juice. When he saw my expression, he shrugged sheepishly.  
"Percy gave me the idea. Said that Americans eat breakfast for dinner all the time. I figured it couldn't be too far-fetched, and it seemed like it would be fun." I smiled and kissed him on the cheek.  
"It will be. Give me some of those eggs, will you?" He smiled, relieved, and handed me a plate of eggs. As we ate, we didn't really speak- Draco too well-bred to speak with his mouth full, and me still not quite used to being able to speak at meals. Merlin knows the Dursleys would have never allowed it. Some habits take far too long to break.  
"So, Harry, what do you think of a Samhain ball?" Draco asked.  
"It sounds very interesting. I mean, is it a costume ball?"  
"It likely would be." Draco said quickly. "What would you say if I said I was helping to plan one?"  
"I'd say that's it's very kind of you, to do such a thing."  
"Well, you see, McGonagall approached several people from eighth year and there are people from every House working on it, but I got the feeling it was mostly the dem- the Americans' idea. They take Halloween very seriously over there, and Annabeth and Piper are heading the plans. I know Percy's helping too, they're really very good at it, and they've asked me to join them. I said yes on one condition."  
"That I do it with you?" I guessed. "Who else is doing it?"  
"Well, Cho Chang, Neville, Luna, of course, pretty much all the Americans, Daphne, and a bunch of others. I didn't get all their names." Draco took a breath. "I mean, I'm sure you'll know most of them." He said, gazing out at the lake. "Hey, look! The giant squid's decided to pay us a visit." As I watched it bobbing just under the surface, I notice that Draco wasn't looking at it.  
"Draco! You're not looking!" I poked him.  
"That's because I see it all the time in the Slytherin common room." He went back to putting things in the basket. I turned back to the giant squid, only to find it staring right at me. "You should stop staring at it, Harry. It gets self-conscious." Draco chuckled. "Look at me instead." I did, and- Why was he holding a tiny box? Oh wait.  
"Harry, I know we've only been dating for a few months-" Five, to be exact- "But still, I'd like to marry you. We've known each other seven years, much of is angantonist, I know, but there's something to be said for three-year long mutual crushes. Will you marry me?"  
"Yes." I said it softly, like that would matter. Like it would make it more special. "Yes, yes, yes. Of course I'll marry you, Draco Malfoy." No one said I was the best decision maker, right? Hermione would have said to wait. Everyone would have. But that didn't matter. I'd been near in love with Draco since sixth year, and know that he was mine, I wasn't giving him up. Ever. As soon as he had the ring on my finger (I barely even glanced at it), I was kissing him.  
“Do you want to know what my condition was?” He asked against my lips. I pulled away to look at him.  
“Yes.”  
“It was that if you said yes, we could announce our engagement at the ball. No telling anyone until then.” I looked down at the ring, which was a gold band with a silver pearl set into it.  
“Then I’ll have to glamour this.” I told him.  
“Don’t worry about that. Your wedding ring will be much more impressive, and will never be glamoured.” Her told me. I rolled my eyes at him. That wasn’t the point. The point was no one would see it for two weeks, and then it wouldn’t be the same, because the whole school would know.  
“Maybe I could leave it alone when I’m with my friends?” I suggested. Draco smiled at me.  
“I asked them for permission, you know. And Mrs. Weasley.” Because he couldn’t ask my parents. Right.  
“And they didn’t say anything to me?”  
“I asked them not to. I wanted it to be a surprise. They all warned me off marrying you until at least next December, though. Hermione is quite scary when she wants to be, and-”  
“Ginny has her bat-bogey hex.” I grinned. That sounded just like them. Draco hesitated for a moment.  
“And your parents said yes too. Your father, he started sobbing. And Lily told me that if I hurt you I was dead.”  
“How did you ask them?” I whispered. They were dead, and the Resurrection Stone somewhere in the Forbidden Forest.  
“Nico Di Angelo has a talent for it.” Was all he said. Then he smiled at me brightly. “Wouldn’t you like to tell your friends of our engagement? And this weekend we’ll be visiting Mother. She’d murder me if she found out with everyone else. She adores you, though, so you'd likely get to move in.” I laughed. It was true, Narcissa and I had talked a lot over the summer while Draco had been here, tutoring the Americans, and I was very fond of her. Draco picked me up and I screeched at him, then buried my face in his shoulder. He just laughed.  
“It is only right, my prince, that I carry you to the castle steps.” Thankfully, he put me down before we entered the Great Hall.  
“You go tell them that it’s official, okay? And I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Draco murmured in my ear before kissing me. I watched him for a moment before entering Gryffindor Tower grinning sapily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 3315  
> Okay, so I know that problary (excuse my spelling) no one reads these, but please comment. How did I do? Was Harry in character? Or was he too OOC? How about everyone else? Did you like the chapter? Was it boring? Please tell me. This chapter took me two days (ereyesterday and yesterday) but I didn't post it because of bowling and laziness.  
> Phoenix  
> (Also, it won't let me tab on here. I find it very annoying and it needs to be changed.)


	18. Chapter 17: Halloween and Dances

{Thalia’s POV}

“So, are you ready for the Halloween feast?” Percy plopped down next to me on the sofa. I lowered my voice. No one was supposed to know.  
“I guess.” We had decided on a costume theme, so we had to announce it early, and Percy, Reyna, Annabeth, and I were doing a bit of theme among the four of us. The last planning session was on Saturday, and then we would discuss our outfits. I couldn’t wait…

“Okay, so that’s it! We start decorating late Monday evening, and by Friday morning we’ll be done.” Annabeth said, standing. “Anything else?” She looked at everyone, and no one said anything. “Well, then, see you all Monday!” Everyone filtered out of the room until it was just the four of us.  
“So what are we going to do?” Percy asked, leaning back in their chair.  
“I was thinking we could do something like the Gotham Sirens,” Reyna said. “Badass and cute.”  
“That’s a good plan.” Percy said. “But aren’t there only three? Catwoman, Ivy, and Harley?”  
“Yeah. I was thinking that Thalia and I would go as Harley and Ivy.”  
“So I’m Catwoman. I think we should keep within the Gotham theme,” Annabeth said, a glint in her eye.  
“Yeah,” I chimed in. “I like it. Say, Percy, you could be one of the Robins. Most of them have black hair and no one would see your eyes under the mask anyway.” Percy laughed.  
“Sounds good. So where do we get our costumes?”  
“That’s the fun part.” Annabeth said, grinning slyly.

I adjusted my shirt and slung the baseball bat over my shoulders. I didn’t where Percy had gotten it. We’d all been charged with somehow finding the pieces of another’s costume in the wizarding world, where they had likely never even heard of Gotham. It had been… an interesting experience, and no one was punched at all. Totally. In the end, I’d gotten Annabeth’s costume, which was probably the easiest. Reyna had Percy’s, Percy had mine, and Annabeth had Reyna’s. I slipped through the door in my dorm that led to the RoR. The four of us had agreed to meet up so we could check our costumes and make any changes needed.  
“You didn’t put the wig on!” Percy exclaimed as soon as they saw me.  
“Guess I forgot it in my dorm.” I wasn’t wearing that wig. We could just use magic to make it look right anyway. Percy sighed, but didn’t say anything. Their costume looked complete. Reyna had gone with the first Robin traffic light suit.  
“I'll charm your hair while we wait.” Percy got to work, and when I looked in the mirror, my hair was red and white, pulled back into pigtails, looking longer than I'd had it in years.  
“You look great, Annabeth.” Percy said, admiring her skin-tight costume. Annabeth laughed. “And you look like a walking traffic light. We'll make quite the pair, if I can spend the night walking in the these. Annabeth glared down at her heels. I'd gotten the lowest stilettos I could find, because she wore tennis shoes for quests and pretty much everything else, so I didn't think she'd be used to them.  
“You'll do fine, Annabeth. You can practice now and I'll be with you the entire time." A soft, fond look came over Percy’s face. Gods, these two dorks are so in love. I can't wait to be best woman at the wedding. Or will Grover be best man?  
“Hello, my diamond.” Reyna said from behind me. “Aren't you looking lovely tonight?” She came around to see my face, and I saw that Annabeth had done well with her costume. Green leaves and vines covered Reyna’s body, and I could barely see the undershirt she had on. Green leggings, black heels, and a woven crown of vines and flowers completed the costume. In short, it looked great.  
“Well, you seem to be blooming pretty well.yourself." Would tonight be filled with horrible puns? I groaned internally. Had I just said that? At least everyone seemed amused by it.  
“We better get going. Can't have the hosts being late.” Percy said.  
“What, you don't want to make an entrance?” I asked. “Be fashionably late?”  
“We'll make an entrance.” Percy spun Annabeth. “Just not the one you think.” They pointed at the walls and I saw that the doors had disappeared.  
“How are we getting out?” Reyna asked, hands on her hips.  
“I assume those doors.” Annabeth point at four new doors-one in each corner. I read the signs aloud. “East Corner, West Corner, Entrance, Balcony.”  
“They must be the way into the Great Hall.” Annabeth said. “What else could they be?”  
“I didn't think that the Great Hall had a balcony.” Percy frowned. “Who's going through which door?”  
“I'll go east." Annabeth said, positioning herself in front of the door.  
“I'll take west. Percy, I think you should do the balcony. That way we have our villains all entering from the ground and our hero coming the top.” Reyna said. “And then Thalia can in from the entrance while I come in from the west, and Annabeth and Percy can come in at the same time.”  
“Should I flip off the balcony?” Percy asked, a glint in their eye. We all laughed.  
“Whatever you want. Just try to stay alive.” Annabeth grinned at them. Percy laughed and Reyna ducked through her door.  
“Wait ten seconds before you go, Thals!” She called behind her. I counted to ten dutifully and opened my own door, leaving Percy and Annabeth. I walked down the dark tunnel and rapped three times on the door, trying to think of something Harley would say. In the end I decided to wing it. Not like these kids would know Harley Quinn anyway. So I walked out, baseball bat over my shoulder, and smirked when I saw Reyna.  
“Aw, belladonna, you beat me here!” Everyone was staring at me. Then Annabeth stepped through her door.  
“Ivy, Harley! Good to see you could make it. Any sign of the Bat Brats?”  
Reyna’s lips curled up. “No, but with a place this big, I wouldn't be surprised if one wasn't already here.”  
“And here I had hoped my dropping in would be a surprise.” Percy pouted as they flipped off the balcony, startling everyone. Everyone was watching us.  
“Come on, ladies! Let's show this brat what a party is all about.” I smirked again and grabbed Reyna, spinning her as the music picked up. Annabeth and Percy joined us and for a moment or two, fleeting, we were the only couples on the floor, laughing at the students' expressions and having the time of our lives. Then the dance floor flooded with our friends and the beat of a Green Day song, and I stopped watching them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!  
> Sorry I didn't have this up in January, I'll try to get a Valentine's chapter out this week though to make up for it. But be warned, I have bowling and a concert (plus homework and being at school) this week. Thanks for reading, and as always, comment what you thought!
> 
> Phoenix


	19. Chapter 18: Broken Ribs and Pleasant Dreams

{Percy’s POV}  
Talk about Halloween had filled the classrooms for days after the ball. Everyone was wondering if there would be another one.   
“Professor, how will knowing self-defense help us in life?” One of the students, a Miss Brown I believe, asked. “I mean, we all know how to fight with our wands.”  
“Knowing how to defend yourself without the use of your wand is always important, Miss…”  
“Brown. Lavender Brown.” She frowned at me.  
“Being a witch doesn’t make you invincible, Miss Brown.” I told her. “And you can survive without a wand, as unlikely as it seems. So leave your wand here. It will be returned to you at the end of class.” Someone nudged her harshly.  
“Come on, Lav, just do it. This class is fun and I don’t want to waste any more time.” She dropped her wand in the basket with a huff and stomped past me into the classroom. The students behind her filed in.  
“What are we doing today, Professor Jackson?”  
“You’ll see.” I grinned. “I think you’ll all enjoy it.” I wasn’t going to tell them that they’d get to use swords today. We’d had twelve classes with meditation, and the seventh and eighth years were so much calmer now than they’d been before. So was I, to be honest. So we’d decided to take a break and teach them the basics of fighting: Stances, how to properly hold a weapon, and all that.  
“Everyone stand by the chests! We're going to have a demonstration!” Leo yelled. I had uncapped Riptide before class began to ensure no one would have to wonder why a pen became a sword. “Professors Grace and Jackson will be showing you what we are doing today. Yes, you will get to try it.” Jason stepped up on the dais and I spun my sword as I faced him from the door. Annabeth nodded at me, and Jason made the first move. I spun and blocked, then turned it on him and nearly disarmed him. He stepped back quickly, guard up.  
“That is what you don’t do in a fight.” I announced to the room at large, barely aware of the students watching wide-eyed. I took two quick steps toward Jason, feinted, and then slashed down at him, stopping just short of his wrist. I stepped back, allowing him to catch his breath. I turned my back to him and I heard everyone gasp. My friends knew I knew better than to turn my back on an opponent; I had no doubt Jason was wondering what I was doing. The students’ faces, though, were great. They thought I didn’t know what I was doing. I heard Jason’s light footsteps approaching, then I heard him prepare to swing- to disarm me, I hoped. I raised Riptide and sidestepped, then actually disarmed him.  
“When can we start using swords?!” Everyone started talking at once.  
“Soon. We have another demonstration first, though.” I chuckled, waving Annabeth up. “Watch our fighting styles. When we’re done, tell me how they differ.” Annabeth pulled out her sword dubiously. I knew her fighting style with her dagger, but she changed weapons and we haven’t sparred much. Jason, though, I have sparred with the weapons we used today. It might make a difference. I take a loose fighting stance, and Annabeth finds her own. We move at the same time, but this time I take the first the step forward. Annabeth is studying my stance, I can tell, but it won’t get her far here if I change it often. I charge as much as I can in the limited space, knowing Annabeth will expect me to swing high. I swing low, shifting my blade so I catch her on the flat side instead on cutting her. She stumbles back for a moment, but quickly regains her balance. I stand on the balls of my feet and Annabeth slides back on her heels before bringing her weight forward slightly. I watch her for a moment, waiting to catch the moment when she moves to attack. When she does, I parry, and we're stuck in a go-around of block, parry, block, parry. Her fighting style hasn't changed much, but for years now- in the rare times we've sparred- we've been at an impasse. She's too smart not to know what I'm going to do before I do it, and my instincts have been honed so much that I can predict her every move. I spin away first, ducking under her sword and coming up behind her. Annabeth just barely misjudges my swing and hits me in the ribs with the flat of her blade. I hear something like a crack, and then there's sharp, shooting pain all up and down my ribcage. I ignore her shocked look and everyone screaming. They didn't expect us to actually hurt each other, but it couldn't have gone better if I had planned it. Now these kids will know that this isn't something to be messed with. Taking advantage of Annabeth’s shock, I disarm her quickly and then turn to face the students.  
“How did our fighting styles differ?” I ask, but no one raises their hand.  
“Professor Jackson, shouldn't you go to the hospital wing?” Someone asks. I wave them off and repeat the question.   
“You stayed on the balls of your feet consistently, and she shifted her weight.”  
“Right you are, Miss Brown. Anyone else?”  
“You're more experienced with a sword; she fights close, like she's used to a smaller weapon.” I hear Draco drawl from the back.  
“Good observation, Mr. Malfoy. Now, I'll let Professors McLean and LaRue explain what you're doing today. Professor Chase, if you would?” I said before striding out of the room, chest protesting with every step.  
As soon as we’re out of the classroom, Annabeth gently presses her fingers against my ribs. I wince, but don’t pull away.  
“Percy, why'd you keep fighting?” She asked. “Why'd you stand there and talk? Your ribs are broken, you know they are, and I broke them-"  
“You didn't do it on purpose, Annabeth, and I'll be fine soon enough.” I told her. “And I've done far worse things with broken ribs than stand and talk. Nico and Thalia can tell you all about it.” Annabeth tucked her arm around my waist carefully.   
“Let's just get you to your common room. No one is in there, right?”  
“They shouldn't be. It doesn't matter if they are, right now the two of us are professors and they won't question it.” We made it to my dorm without incident, where Annabeth wrapped my chest up as I sipped nectar.  
“We better get to lunch. Everyone will wonder if we're not there.” I flopped back onto my bed, unconvinced. “The house elves can bring us something.”  
“Percy.” Annabeth said firmly, exasperated. I look at her, eyes half-closed. “I’m tired, Beth.” I admit softly. I haven’t been sleeping well. “Lay with me?” Annabeth’s face softened and wavered for a moment before she gave in, making me get under the covers even as we curled around each other.  
“We should check-” I thought I heard someone speak, but ignored it and curled back into Annabeth, wincing. I was due for more nectar and ambrosia, but getting up wouldn’t be fun, and also sleep. I drifted off, barely noticing as a white light flashed.  
“Let them sleep. They’ll wake up soon enough.” Words I couldn’t quite process through the haze of my pleasant- for once- dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> I'm really glad I was able to get this chapter up. It's not as long as I had hoped but some chapters you just know when to end it. Also, please don't murder me. I know I haven't been posting every month as I mean to. I was at Regionals for bowling, and we went to State last week, too, and this week was exam week. I have musical starting Monday, and tennis as well. During the summer I'll try for two a month or- dare I say it?- one a week.  
> Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Comment your thoughts and kudos are always welcome.
> 
> See ya soon,   
> Phoenix


	20. Chapter 19: Missing peoples and Burnt Skin

{Draco’s POV}

I leaned against the door to the demigods’ classroom. Percy and Annabeth hadn’t been at breakfast, but that wasn’t too concerning, knowing about Percy’s broken ribs. When they didn’t show up for lunch, or any of their classes, that was a bit more concerning. I had knocked on Percy’s door this morning, and received a groan in response.  
“Hey, Draco.” Harry kissed me on the cheek. “What are you brooding about?”   
“I don’t brood.” I answered shortly. Okay, so maybe I brood a little bit. “Have you seen Percy or Annabeth today? Their friends can’t seem to find them.” Harry frowned, pulling away from me a little bit.  
“No, I haven’t. Wasn’t Percy hurt yesterday?”  
“Yeah, but they wouldn’t go to the hospital wing.”  
“Draco, Harry, good to see you’ve arrived early.” Piper said as she and Jason rounded the corner. “We’ll be actually using the weapons today. I was planning on having Percy do a lot of the teaching, as they’ve done quite a bit of it before, and they’re good at it, but we’ll make do. We have others who are experienced in teaching.”  
“Are you sure it’s safe to have us using swords?” Harry asked.  
“Aren’t you the one who started a secret defense group in your fifth year?” Piper raised an eyebrow. “And yes, it is, but we’re all trained in using these weapons and some of us have been teaching others for years.”  
“And the rest?”  
“Some of us will be learning with you.” Piper said. “Now, gentlemen, step inside the classroom.” Class flew by, with no sign of Percy or Annabeth. I acted clumsy with my sword, while Harry actually was. Neville had used a sword in front of everyone before, so he had no trouble in class. Just about everyone had to get used the weight of their weapon after using wands for so long. I wasn’t surprised when Clarisse told us all to do some weight-lifting before our next class. When Percy wasn’t at dinner, Thalia and I exchanged looks. I couldn’t see Annabeth at the Ravenclaw table, either, and I could see the demigods all looking around, wondering where their friends were. Annabeth wouldn’t blow off a day of classes without a reason, and neither would Percy, for that matter. It just didn’t make sense. So where were they? Had they been kidnapped? I don’t think they’d sleep an entire day away, and I checked the hospital wing after my last class with Will and Nico. But I haven’t checked Percy’s dorm again, and I bet that no one has checked Annabeth's.  
“I need to do some studying; I expect I’ll see you later.” I said to those around me as I rose and left, mustering some of the ‘Malfoy’ grace and poise to do so. I passed by Harry on my way out and kissed him on the cheek.  
“I’ll be in the Astronomy Tower at three this morning.” I whispered to him. We didn’t often ‘sneak around’, but when you’re in different Houses, you need some time outside of class together. A peek into Percy’s room proved no one was there, and when Thalia got back she told me that they weren’t in Annabeth's room, either. That was it, then. They’d left without telling anyone, or they’d been kidnapped. They wouldn’t just leave, so that meant they’d been kidnapped.  
“We ought to go to the teachers about this.” I murmured to Thalia. It was better if no one overheard our business.  
“We can’t.” She hissed back. “If they’ve been taken, they’ve been taken by something the teachers haven’t dealt with, and one or more of us might get a dream about it tonight.” I’d almost forgotten how demigod dreams work, I’d been so out of touch with the demigod world for so long. Thalia and I sat in the common room long after everyone else had left, only to snap awake suddenly when a tall figure stood in front of us.  
“No one thought to check the lake, huh?” Percy sounded amused. Thalia jumped up.  
“Percy Jackson, how dare you! You made us worry all day and that’s all you have to say for yourself?!” CRACK! Thalia slapped them across the face, hard enough to send them stumbling backwards. Percy peeled their fingers away from their cheek, bringing- was that burnt flesh?- with them.  
“Wow, Thals, that was a good one. I’m going to bed now, night!” Percy ran up the stairs; faintly, I heard their door shut. Thalia shook her head.  
“I’ll check on them in the morning- make sure they actually healed that burn. I should have guessed the lake, though.” Oh, right. Water healed Percy. How had we all forgotten that? Casting a quick Tempus, I bade Thalia goodnight and slipped out the door- I couldn’t be late for my date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!   
> Two chapters in one month, not too shabby if you ask me. I'm surprised at the lack of angry comments on the last chapter, what with that ending. I'm on Spring Break soon, so hopefully I'll get a longer chapter out. What do you want it to be about?   
> Thanks for reading,  
> Phoenix


	21. Chapter 20: Of Healing and Midnight Dates

(Harry’s POV)  
I stared out at the moon. Draco wouldn’t stand me up, would he? I had gotten here early, anyway. I felt arms wrap around my waist. I’d been worrying so much I hadn’t even heard Draco come up behind me.  
“Sorry I’m late.” He whispered. “We found Percy and Annabeth, though. They were down in the lake.”  
“That’s good.” I couldn’t help but wonder why my boyfriend was so concerned about them. We’d only known them for a few months, and they’d be leaving after this year.  
“Sit down.” He drew me backwards onto a blanket. “We haven’t been able to do this for a while. Let’s just relax.”  
“Why do you care so much about the Americans?” I asked. Draco sighed.  
“They’re family of sorts. I knew Annabeth as a child.”  
“And the others?”   
“Well, I taught them all summer, didn’t I? I got to know them. There’s nothing to worry about, Harry.” Draco didn’t sound defensive, just tired. I leaned over to kiss him, pushing him gently so he was laying down.  
“Let’s sleep here tonight. The sun will wake us in time.” I murmured against his lips. I watched him fall asleep, then curled up against him- my fiance- and drifted off.

(Thalia’s POV)   
I climbed the stairs and knocked on Percy’s door. “Percy? Are you in there?”  
“Yeah, Thals?” Their voice was tired and I could hear the pain.  
“I’m coming in.” I opened the door and found Percy on their bed, looking at their face in a mirror.   
“You should try that move with our enemies, Thalia, it would send them running.” Percy joked, but it fell flat.  
“You need to heal yourself, Percy. You can’t keep doing this.” Jason had told Piper what Percy had said after defeating Kim, and she had told Annabeth and I. “Come on. I'll help you into the shower.” Percy shook their head slowly. “Percy. Stop punishing yourself.” I hauled them off the bed and into their bathroom. I inspected the side of their face and winced. The skin that wasn’t blackened was red and inflamed. It had to hurt. “I’m getting Annabeth and Will.” I said. “Meanwhile, you hold this on your face.” I wet a washcloth and pressed it into Percy’s hand, then brought it up to his face. I started the water in the shower and IM’ed Annabeth and Will.  
“Annabeth, wake up.”   
“Thalia? What time is it?”  
“Late. Look, you have to hurry over here. Will’s already here, Nico brought him. He can come grab you too in a minute.”  
“Let me get changed.” I grabbed Percy and stepped into their bedroom. I wasn’t going to leave them alone like this.  
“Nico, can you go get Annabeth? Will, come look at this.”  
“What happened?” Will asked as Percy dropped the washcloth. Nico turned from the corner to look and his frown deepened.  
“They came back from the lake and I slapped them. I must have shocked them badly at the same time.”  
“Percy, drink this. Thalia, go get a cup of a water. Nico, get Annabeth.” Will began to work, gently touching the burned skin. “It didn't burn deeper than the dermis, that's good. Hold on to that for now, Thalia. This is going to hurt, Percy.” Will peeled off the worst of the burned skin.  
“What happened?” Annabeth demanded. I almost jumped, I hadn't realized she was there.  
“We'll explain later, Annabeth. Go wet this washcloth, and grab me another while you're at it.” She did, looking at me curiously. Will pressed the wet washcloth against Percy’s face as Nico took the other one from Annabeth and poured nectar on it.   
“How does this feel, Percy? Are you numb?” Percy shook their head.  
“I can feel everything now that burned skin is off.” Their voice was muffled under the washcloth.  
“Alright. That was the worst of it; with nectar treatments every day, since you seem to be refusing to heal yourself, you should be fine in a week or two. I can't say that you won't have a scar from just above your eyebrow to lip, though.” Will lightly traced the spot over the washcloth. Will removed the washcloth and already Percy’s face looked better. The water on it had done a little something. Annabeth took the nectar-soaked cloth from Nico and put it on Percy’s face gently. Their hand came up over hers.  
“Leave that on for at least an hour.” Will finally took the cup of water from my hand. “And drink this.” He turned to Annabeth. “I assume you're staying?”   
“Of course.”  
“Percy, it'd be best if you would take a shower or bath and let yourself heal. You don't need to do this to yourself.” He and Nico left.  
“What happened, Thalia?”  
“They came back from the lake and I slapped them. I didn't realize until it was too late that I had electrocuted them.” Annabeth buried her face in her hands. “I'm going to get a bath started.” Annabeth walked into the bathroom and shut the door.   
“Percy, I'm sorry I slapped you. I'm not mad at you, I never was. This isn't your fault.” Percy nodded slightly. “Go take a bath and heal yourself. You deserve it, Percy.” I hugged them as Annabeth opened the door. We both let go a minute later and I left Percy and Annabeth alone.

(Harry’s POV)  
I woke up to an array of food spread across the floor of the tower.  
“Good morning, Harry.” Draco said. “Come, eat something. We’re not going down to breakfast today, but we still have class.” I groaned.  
“Can’t we just stay up here all day?” I asked. Draco laughed. “Not if you want to get that position. Besides, someone will come looking for us if we don’t; you know that as well as I do.” Draco handed me a plate loaded with food, and I ate as much of it as I could.  
“When do you want to get married?” Draco asked. “We could do it at Yule, you know. Mother will be glad to have something to plan.” I shook my head.  
“Not so soon. Yule is only a month away, Draco.”  
“Perhaps this summer, then? It gives us time to plan.”  
“A summer wedding sounds excellent.” Draco was smiling like I’d given him the greatest gift ever.   
“It’d have to be after your birthday, of course, or even on it.”   
“Our wedding… on my birthday?”  
“I don’t see why not. It will just make an already special day even better.”  
“Draco…”   
“We can do it after, if you want.”  
“No. A birthday wedding sounds perfect.” I smiled. It did sound perfect. “But only if we can renew our vows on your birthday sometime.”   
“Of course, love. A tenth anniversary present, perhaps?” I smiled at him. “That sounds excellent.”   
“And then after we have kids, we can renew our vows on each of their birthdays when they’re ten, and they’ll never have reason to doubt how much we love each other and how much we love them.” I laughed. “Hey, don’t laugh at my ideas! I’ll have you know that they’re all excellent, no matter how stupid they are.” That made me laugh harder, and finally Draco joined in. Then I stood, surprising him, and yanked him off the ground, pulling him into a quick kiss before pushing him away and running for the stairs.   
“Race you to class!” He swore and scrambled after me. “We’re supposed to be bloody adults!” I heard him yell behind me.   
“Now where’s the fun in that?” I called back, out of breath from running and laughing at the same time. I won the race, and Draco, of course, rewarded me with a kiss (or two, or three, or four, or maybe enough that we got kicked out of class for kissing and then a dirty look for laughing louder than we should have in the corridors.).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I plan on updating next Sunday, and maybe again this month. Also, I'm participating in  
> Thominho week this July. Are any of you? Maybe we could talk over the days. The Role Reversal AU is really messing with me. Comment your thoughts, questions, things you'd like to see.  
> Phoenix


	22. Chapter 21: Pastries and Talks

(Hazel’s POV)  
When I saw Percy and Annabeth in the Great Hall, I almost ran to them. Only knowing I would see them later, as it was a Saturday, stopped me. Well, that and a restraining hold. Nico held my forearms tightly to keep me from leaving the table. Will walked in with them, and from the way no one else reacted to Percy’s face, the burn on one side, I knew that the Mist- or a glamour- had to be at work.   
“Don't tell anyone about it. Only the demigods can see it.” Nico murmured in my ear. I nodded and tried to arrange my facial expression so it seemed like everything was normal. 

After breakfast, Will, Nico, and I headed down to the lake. We knew those who hadn't left already would be there soon. Thalia and Reyna were already sitting up in a tree, talking to someone. Reyna swiped away the Iris-message as we approached.   
“What was that about?” Nico asked. “Want to share with the class?”  
“Just my sister.” Reyna said. “Nothing's wrong, but…”  
“I'll feel a lot better when we're back at camp.” Thalia said. “They say their war is over, but something feels off here.”   
“Perhaps that's my fault.” Someone said. “So sorry about that.” The accent told them nothing; everyone here but them had a similar one.   
“Who are you? And where are you?” Nico asked. A red-haired ghost shimmered into sight and bowed to them. “Gentlemen, ladies, Fred Weasley at your service. Perhaps you know my younger sister?”  
“You’re Ginny’s older brother.” I said.  
“Yes, one of many. Ron seems to be avoiding you, so I don’t suppose you’d know him. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversations this summer. I won’t tell anyone. I swear this solemnly. But I think I know just what’s going on here.”  
"And what is that?" Will asked. "We were sent here to protect Harry Potter, not that he seems to need it, and investigate what's going on here. We've found nothing that seems odd for a magical school. Draco, Luna, and Neville have confirmed that nothing out of the ordinary is going on."   
"That's hard to say, exactly. I don't think it's anything too sinister." Fred told us slowly, thinking it over. "But part of it is that a good many people died here, Death Eaters and Order Members alike. Voldemort was just defeated last year, and it's possible some of his Death Eaters have remained invisible all this time, waiting for an oppertiny. But I don't think that's it. Keep an eye on Slughorn. He's been acting odd this year." Fred looked behind us. "Your friends are coming. I'll take a look around, see if I come up with anything else." He disappeared just as Frank wrapped his arms around my waist.   
"Who was that?" Annabeth asked.  
"Fred Weasley, Ginny's older brother. He died in the Battle of Hogwarts." Nico told him. "Well, now that we have another source, we need to start figuring out what's going on. Fred said he doesn't know, but to watch Slughorn."  
"I don't think it's Slughorn," Percy said. "Yes, the man's odd, but did Fred ever have him as a professor? I think it's something bigger- something we'll need both wizards and demigods to defeat."   
"What could be bigger than what we've already fought?" Jason frowned.   
"Tartarus." Percy's voice was heavy. "Annabeth and I have both been having nightmares, you know that, but we've also been getting messages. Tartarus doesn't have the strength to fight us himself, and I don't think he ever will, because he has to regenerate monsters all the time. But he does have the power to awaken old enemies more quickly than we'd like. What's to say he hasn't somehow brought this Voldemort back? Or something worse?"  
"You don't think... Kronos?" Clarisse asked. Percy shook their head.   
"No. Not Gaea, either. But a drakon, perhaps, maybe several, or-."  
"I've taken down a drakon before," Clarisse said.   
"But how hard was it?" Annabeth said. "I was there- you know as well I as do it would have been a lot harder if you hadn't been so angry at Silena's death. I don't think drakons would be the end of it. There would be something else, something bigger. We just don't know what." Everyone nodded. Whatever was happening here had to be something we'd need both groups to fight, and it isn't likely to be something smaller than what we’ve already dealt with. Hopefully, we'll be able to figure out what it is and warn the professors about it before anything too bad happens.   
"Let's not talk about it now," Percy said. "Whatever it is, it's not going to happen for a while, and we have almost nothing to go off of. Maybe Rachel will give us a prophecy when we visit camp at Christmas."  
"I think this is the first time in a long time I've actually wanted a prophecy." Annabeth knocked her shoulder against Percy's gently, and they smiled down at her.  
"Have you even planned an engagement party yet?" Piper asked.   
"We sent a few things to your siblings. When they heard, they said that we need to 'focus on school' and that they would take of it." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "So we're letting them."   
"I think they'll do well," Percy said. "Besides, they actually like planning parties, unlike me." We all laughed, and Annabeth kissed them. Thalia got an evil grin on her face, and Frank squeezed my waist before letting go.  
"Hey, you two, there's a child here." Nico deadpanned, covering my eyes. I slapped his hand away. I'd seen far worse from them and he knew it.   
"Thalia, you're not throwing them in the lake again," Calypso said, exprerated. "It wouldn't be nearly as funny this time."  
"But it would be funny," Leo told her.  
"No one is throwing us into a lake," Percy said, sounding amused. When I glanced back at them, they had a smirk on their face. "Especially not you, Valdez." When I looked at the lake, it waved at me and then hit Thalia and Leo in the face.   
"Percy!" Thalia looked about ready to shock him when a roar sounded from the forest. "Really? Now? I can't electrocute my cousin first?" Thalia and Reyna hopped out of the tree and ran toward the noise, Percy and Annabeth following behind.   
"You can go back in if you want, it looks like rain," Annabeth told us.  
"What if you need our help?" Frank asked.  
"You'll know." Percy said gravely. "But we should be fine."  
"Okay then." I heard Frank mutter. Nico was staring after them.  
"I'm going after them. But they're right, someone does need to go back inside. We need to let the headmistress know there are monsters in her forest." Nico jogged off, and Will threw up his hands.  
"I think they have enough people now. Who wants to go see McGonagall?" No one did anything. "Fine. Clarisse-"   
"I'm staying right here."   
"Jason?"  
"I'm going back to my common room."   
"Piper?"  
"I'll go, Will."  
"What are you four going to do?"  
"Hazel and I were planning on visiting the kitchens, we haven't been there yet," Frank spoke for us.  
"Leo and I have nothing planned."  
"Then the four of us will visit McGonagall. If anything happens, Clarisse, you know how to get ahold of us."  
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Will. Those five are very capable fighters. I'll keep an eye while I talk to Chris." Well, she had good timing. Despite the thin layer of clouds, there was a rainbow across the surface of the lake. Will still hesitated. "Clarisse, I don't like leaving a demigod out in the open like this-" She laughed.   
"I'll be fine, Will. I don't think anything's going to come charging out the woods." So, of course, that's what happened. A metal bull charged us.  
"I hate these things!" Clarisse swore. It never got close enough for us to fight it, as Percy followed it right out. They used a wave to drown the mechanical bull and waved us off. "We're almost done, go enjoy yourselves!" I grabbed Frank's hand and started walking towards the stairs.  
"What-"   
"I trust Percy," I said. "If they say they've got it handled, they've got it handled. Let's go get some food."  
"We just had breakfast."  
"Frank, the kitchen was your idea."   
"Oh. Right."  
"Are you going to walk with us or not?" I called back to Will, Piper, Leo, and Calypso. Jason had already left. "We can talk a while before we have to separate." They hurried to catch up.  
"We're just going to leave them?" Calypso asked. "That doesn't seem very heroic." Leo shrugged.  
"What can I say, some days I don't feel very heroic." Calypso slapped him on the shoulder, lightly, and they started play-arguing.   
"Hey Hazel?"  
"Yes, Frank?"   
"Do you know where the kitchen is?"  
"I thought you did."  
"Well, it looks like we're going to have to ask someone where to go."   
"Draco's right there." I pointed him out. We got our directions and some delicious pastries.  
Don't tell Percy, but they did have blueberry ones. We just ate them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm so glad I could get this finished and posted. Comment your thoughts and any questions, as always.   
> Thanks for reading,  
> Phoenix


	23. Chapter 22: Winter Break is Coming! and we still have a class to teach...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Annabeth get the exciting adventure of teaching a bunch of eighteen year olds how to fight.

{Annabeth’s POV}  
“Exciting, isn’t it, Annabeth?” Percy asked. “Next week we’ll be back at camp, and we’ll have our party, and we’ll go to my mom’s for Christmas. And we can start to plan our wedding, of course.” “Percy, we haven’t even decided on a date yet,” I laughed.  
“We can pick the theme before deciding on a date. And we all know where we’ll hold the wedding; there’s only one place big enough to fit everyone we’d have to invite.”  
“I wish we could hold it at Camp Half-Blood,” I said.  
“You love the architecture at Camp Jupiter, you can't say you don’t. Besides, it’ll be fun.” Percy was right. The architecture at Camp Jupiter is amazing, and with all our friends there, our wedding will be fun even we got married in a Dumpster.  
“Are you two going to come out here or stay in your room?” Thalia leaned on the door frame. “We're discussing the value of using magic for everything verses the value of doing things the old-fashioned way.”  
“Well, magic certainly makes things faster, and it’s convenient, but mortals have invented and are still inventing things for that. And sometimes doing something the old-fashioned way is calming and helps you clear your mind.” Percy said. “And, Thalia, we don’t have long to stay and talk. It’s our turn to teach the class, remember?” I’d almost forgotten myself. After the first few classes, we’d decided to teach in pairs. We were rotating partners every other week- we only had three classes a week, anyway- and it was going well so far.  
“That’s right. What are you going to teach?”  
“We’re having them start with fifteen minutes of meditation, and then we’re pairing them up and continuing your practice lesson.” I said. “It shouldn’t be too bad.”   
“I’ll see you two at lunch, then.” Thalia pushed off the door, swinging it closed as she left.   
“We better change.” Percy said. “We are not at all dressed to teach fighting.” Robes did hinder that a bit.   
“We should have them practice in their robes next time. It’ll be good for the chance they do get in a fight in them- they’re always wearing them.”   
“Let’s bring it up next time we discuss lesson plans.” Percy said, already standing and going through ‘our’ closet. They threw an orange button-up on the bed and a pair of dark blue- almost black- slacks. It was as close as we could get to the Camp Half-Blood ‘uniform’ here, and it comforted both of us.  
“I’ll wear the teal shirt and the black slacks.” I told Percy. They nodded and pulled them out of the closet, shutting the door and turning to change themself.  
“We’ll see you all at lunch!” Percy waved at everyone as we left. “Let’s hope no one feels like acting up today.” They murmured to me.  
“Percy, they’re eighteen years old. They’re not going to act up.” I rolled my eyes.  
“You’d be surprised.” Percy unlocked the door and we stepped in. “Last time I taught was a mess.”  
“What happened?” That had been their turn to teach with Leo. They got along better than I’d expected- similar pasts.  
“Leo almost set himself on fire, someone got angry with their friend and bewitched their knife, it was great fun.” The students started filtering in, Draco and Harry among the first.  
“Hullo, professors,” Draco said cheerily. “Everyone’s well, I hope?”  
“We are all well, Mr. Malfoy, thank you.” I answered.  
“I’m sure you have something nice planned for today, being our last class before break,” Draco continued. “This is my favorite class, you know.” He winked.  
“Thank you, Mr. Malfoy,” Percy said. “How about you, Mr. Potter?”  
“I like this class. The mediation has helped me to focus.” Harry said. He was uneasy about this class at first, and our relationships with Draco. He had remained that way, though less so.  
“What’s your favorite class, professors?” Draco asked.  
“That’s a hard question to answer.” I said slowly. I was taking almost all the classes- except Divination, though Percy, Piper, Calypso, and Leo all were self-studying it. “I like Arithmancy.” I finally settled on one answer.  
“I like Herbology and Potions.” Percy said.  
“Potions is among my favorite classes.” Draco said. “If you ever need help, let me know.” The last of the students closed the door behind them, like they always did, and we began.  
“Put your bags on the seat of your desk.” Percy said, flicking their wand and sending the unoccupied desks arrange themselves neatly along the back wall, stacked six high.  
“We’re going to start with meditating today. Fifteen minutes.” I said, and watched everyone's face fall. They wanted to get right into it. “And then we’ll stretch and warm-up for ten minutes.” I glanced at Percy. They seemed amused at the schedule change, and didn’t say anything. When the students had settled in, Percy and I took our own positions; we’d be meditating with them today.  
“Alright, now we’ll be going through our stretches. Remember what Leo and I taught you?” Percy asked.  
“Yes, Professor Jackson.” I could hear the eyerolls in their tone, even with my back to them. I was working on the board, writing down their warm up.  
“Don’t take that tone with your professors.” My voice may have been sharper than intended, but no one gets to talk to Percy that way. No one should talk to their professors that way, period. The class remained silent.  
“We’ll be running through those today. You will get to train with your weapons today- Professor Chase and I will be walking around supervising- but you must do this first. In practice, it is a good idea to be limber and have your muscles warmed up before you start swing a sword. Otherwise, you can cause a serious injury.” I chuckled to myself, remembering Percy’s first summer at Camp Half-Blood. No one had told them this, so they would just go attack a dummy and usually were fine. But one day they had swung a little too hard too early in their workout and nearly wrenched their shoulder out socket. They did up tearing the bicep muscle in the their left arm and they weren’t allowed to train for a few days.  
“... I know this from personal experience. Of course, in a fight, you won’t have the chance to warm up, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be safe during practice.” I finished on the board and turned around.  
“Finish your last stretch and Professor Chase will walk you through your warm up.” Percy joined the students on the floor and walked between their rows as I explained.  
“Alright, grab your weapons and we’ll pair you off.” I said, joining Percy as they finished.  
“Parkinson, Dunbar, over here.” Percy called. “Longbottom, Finch-Fletchley, next to them.”  
“Hopkins, Brocklehurst, you’ll be on this side of the room.” I said. “Greengrass, Weasley, you’re here.” We continued until everyone was partnered up, seemingly at random.  
“Alright, now begin with the partner closest to the left side blocking and the right side doing a simple strike.” Percy said. “After ten minutes, switch sides. Then Professor Chase and I will tell you what you’re doing next.” One-on-one sparring, with two pairs going at once. The twenty minutes passed without incident, and we pulled Parkinson and Dunbar and Greengrass and Weasley from their spots.  
“You’ll be sparring with each other. The only rule is no killing.” Percy said seriously.  
“The rest of you, watch and wait. You’ll get your turn soon enough.” I said. We planned to stop them after fifteen minutes if no one yielded before then. We just didn’t have the time to do otherwise.  
“I yield,” Weasley gasped out. Five minutes in, and Greengrass had him on his back, both their weapons at his throat. She had a lot of potential.  
“Next pair, take their place.” Percy said, and two more students stepped up. Pansy and Dunbar lasted the full fifteen.  
“Alright, Parkinson, Dunbar, step down,” I instructed. “Next pair.” The last two pairs of students were five minutes off their fifteen when class ended.  
“We’ll see you after break,” Percy said. “Keep up your practice, and be careful.”  
“Gods, I’m so hungry.” They murmured a minute later when the room had cleared.  
“Let’s go get lunch then. I think everyone else is still the ROR.” We’d taken to going there so often that all our rooms had permanent passageways.  
“That sounds good. I don’t know if I can deal with all the noise, and we need to change to go to class.” We both had to attend three classes that afternoon.  
“Well, it’s only for the rest of the week. Then we’ll be home.” I smiled. It was fun here, but I would be glad to be home again.  
If only we’d gotten that far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to have this out in July, but I was working on my Thominho Week 2018 fics, and went camping twice, and tennis, and a lot of things. I'll try to get another chapter up this month. I know updates are slow as it is, but I've got school starting soon, and I signed up for two AP classes, Pre-calc, and all my required courses. I will try my best to continue updating once a month.  
> What did you think of this chapter? Comment your thoughts!
> 
> See you soon (hopefully, anyway)  
> Phoenix


	24. Chapter 23: Making Out and Uneasy Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo hates walking in on everyone making out. Can't they just sneak into each other's dorms instead of hiding in closets?

{Leo’s POV}  
“Really, guys?” I glared at Draco and Harry. They were making out again. I’d caught them five times just today. “Must you make out in every closet in this castle?” Draco pulled away from Harry long enough to respond.  
“Yes.” I threw my hands up and left. At least the rest of my friends weren’t that bad. Draco and Harry were going to the same place over break! They had no reason to make out in random closets all day! I headed for the ROR, knowing that’s where everyone would be. Thankfully, I did not come across anyone making out on the way there. When I stepped inside, Calypso ran up to me and kissed me so quickly I had no time to see who was there and what they were doing. She led me to a couch and sat on my lap.  
“Calypso, what-”  
“Shh.” She said, putting a finger to my lips. “Look around.” Around us, everyone was making out- or at least kissing. I wouldn’t call what Hazel and Frank were doing (kissing for a minute and then pulling back and making gooey eyes at each for another minute) making out.  
“Has everyone been infected with some sort of… pollen or something?” I asked. “I mean, most everyone here kisses their partner often, but we’ve never had group make out sessions before.”  
“Let it go, Leo, just enjoy it.” I wondered where Clarisse was. Her boyfriend was back at camp, after all. I decided to enjoy the weirdness that had overcome all my friends, and just relaxed for a while.  
“Look who come!” Thalia said, noticing I was there. “Nice of you to join us, Leo.”  
“I had no idea this was happening, and still have no idea why this is happening,” I told her. Reyna laughed.  
“We’re just having a bit of fun, Leo, nothing to worry about. Besides, I think everyone’s coming down now anyway.”  
“Have you been doing drugs without me?” I asked.  
“Yes, with permission from Will, our resident doctor,” Nico said. “He created the thing and gave us all the correct dose. I’m sorry you weren’t here for it. We’ve got enough for another day, though, so you’ll get to try.” Nico remained on Will’s lap for this entire speech, and finally stood and helped Will up.  
“I’m going to the hospital wing.” Will said. “I need to grab something and then I’ll be back here to study with you, Nico.” Everyone else slowly separated and/or left the room.  
“Come, Leo, let’s make dinner for our friends.”  
“We have to eat in the Great Hall tonight, Calypso. At our own tables. Everyone will get suspicious if we don’t.”   
“He’s right,” Annabeth said. “We’re already talked about because we disappear a lot. No one knows where we go. If we were packing or studying in the library or common rooms, we’d be accounted for. But we aren’t, so we never are. The four of us at least need to go to our common rooms.”  
“We’ll go too.” Thalia and Reyna, arms still around each other’s waists although they hadn’t been kissing for some time, pulled apart slightly. “But won’t it look weird if we all return to our Houses at the same time?”  
“That’s why we return as couples: Leo and Calypso will go back first, then Reyna and Thalia, and finally Annabeth and I,” Percy said. It made sense to me.   
“I like it!” I said. “Well, my fair lady, shall we take our leave?” Calypso rolled her eyes but climbed off my lap and accepted my arm when I offered it.  
“We’ll see you soon.” She promised over her shoulder as we stepped into the hallway. We headed to our common room.  
“Leo-”  
“Don’t apologize for not including me in your drug use.” I grinned at her. “I had detention, and you didn’t know how long I would be there. I’m not mad.” We got to the door just as it shut.  
“Answer this riddle: A man was driving a truck. His headlights weren’t on, and the moon wasn’t out. A woman, dressed in all black, stepped out in front of the truck. He braked just in time to avoid hitting her. How did he know she was there?” (A/N This would be the time to comment your answer before reading on or to think it through before Leo and Calypso answer.)   
“Somehow he had known to stop, but he couldn’t see her, not without headlights or the moon.” I mused. “Maybe there were streetlights?” I tried.  
“That is incorrect. Try again.” The knocker said.  
“What do you think, Calypso?” I asked. “No headlights, streetlights, natural light- how did he know to stop?”  
“The riddle does not say no natural light.” She said. “It was the day.”  
“Yes.” The door opened and we stepped inside.

{Thalia’s POV}  
“They should be at or near their common room by now,” Annabeth said. “You two can go.”  
“I’ll walk you to your common room,” I told Reyna.  
“A snake in the lion’s den?” She asked eyebrow raised.  
“No, I just want to do something nice for my girlfriend,” I replied. “Besides, it’s not a crime to want to spend more time with you.”  
“Are you getting sappy on me?” Reyna joked. “You do plenty of nice things for me. And I like spending time with you too.” We climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower.  
“Should we run them?” I asked. We’d done it often during the summer; it was fun and a great cardio exercise.  
“Not today, Thalia. There are too many people around.” There was hardly anyone on the stairs, but I agreed and we kept walking.  
“Password?” Then the portrait saw me. “Not in front of this Slytherin, I hope, despite her loyalties.”  
“Reyna won’t give the password with me here,” I said easily. We’d heard about the break-ins some four years ago now.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I kissed her for a second and headed toward the dungeons, an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Reyna was fine; Leo and Calypso should be fine, but everyone else? Maybe I’d run into Percy on the way there; they’d likely walked Annabeth to the Ravenclaw common room. I saw Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank walking to the library, but there was no sign of Annabeth or Percy. Maybe they hadn’t left yet, or maybe they were fine in their common rooms and I was worrying for nothing.  
“Hey, Thalia! Changing before dinner?” Clarisse asked, walking past me.  
“Yeah. You?”  
“Nah, I’m just gonna go dressed like this.” ‘This’ was a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. “Everyone’s used to us being dressed differently anyway and I hate the robes.”  
“I know the feeling.” I agreed absently. Why did I feel the need to check up on everyone? They could defend themselves, and they were fine.   
If only I had been right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I said there wouldn't be any chapters for a while, but this just needed to be done. I wrote this entire chapter today, if you can believe that. I know it's shorter than usual, too. I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Comment your thoughts!
> 
> Thanks for reading,  
> Phoenix


	25. Chapter 24: Where is everyone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth has an odd feeling about this...

{Annabeth’s POV}  
Dinner with the Ravenclaws had been a mess. Everyone wanted to know where we had been, and why we were always disappearing. They might forget over break, but only if we stopped meeting in the ROR.  
“Well, that was fun.” Calypso whispered. “Shall we go study in the common room?”  
“Do we have to?” I groaned. Leo was already there, people had seen us come up here.  
“You know we do. We can’t have people thinking we plan to take over the school or that we’re spies for the Americans.”  
“I mean we totally could. It’s not like the headmistress is going to throw us out.” I said.  
“The ministry could force her too if they really wanted, and so could the board of governors.” Calypso reminded me. Right. That’s why we had to act like normal students/teachers.  
“It’s strange.” I murmured, thinking out loud. “There have hardly been any monster attacks, none of us have had the typical demigod dream in months. Something’s off.” Suddenly I felt alarmed.  
“You saw everyone at dinner, right?”  
“Yeah, everyone was there. I think.” Calypso paused, thinking, and I pictured the Great Hall as it had been at dinner.  
“I didn’t see Percy.” I said. “Or Thalia or Draco, or even Harry, now that I think about.”  
“Leo said Harry and Draco have been making out in closets all day.” Calypso told me. “And I’m sure Percy and Thalia are fine. They’re, like, the two most powerful demigods in ages.” I nodded absently.  
“I’ve just got a bad feeling about this.”  
“Let’s go down to the common room. Later, we can IM them and you’ll see that everyone’s fine.” Calypso said.  
“Yeah.”  
“Good to see you two finally out of your dorm.” Someone called as we entered the full common room. “Firsties, it’s time for bed.” The first years all pouted but obeyed.  
“Valdez, you sure you trust these two alone?” One of the boys standing near Leo asked.  
“Of course I do.” He said. “I have no reason not to.”  
“Well-”  
“Oh, leave them alone.” Lisa Turpin said. “You’re just mad ‘cause you can’t get dates. Ignore them.” She said to us. “Come study with us. Luna’s telling us some fascinating things.” The girls made room in their circle for us, and we sat on the floor, books on our laps.  
“The boys all think you’re spies or something.” Lisa rolled her eyes. “It’s really stupid. I thought they were supposed to be smart. Hey, what language is that?”  
“Greek,” I answered.  
“How many languages do you know?”  
“English, Latin, and Greek. My friend Piper knows French and she’s teaching me.” It wasn’t too much of a stretch.”  
“And how about you, Calypso?”  
“I know Greek as well, obviously.” What was left of her accent stood out. “And Latin, English, and Macedonian.” She meant ancient, and there was- as far as we knew- no one else who spoke it save for the gods.  
“You must study a lot at home.” Luna said. “I would like to learn another language, but I find the Nargles don’t much like it.” Just when everyone thought she was going to say something ‘normal’. We didn’t speak much after that, just offering advice and helping with last-minute homework.  
“I hope the professors don’t give much homework over break.” Lisa said. “I’d like to enjoy my time off, not study.”  
“Well, this is our final year. Most of us are taking our N.E.W.T. exams and would like good grades.” Someone reminded her. It was shame that after months of teaching and attending classes with these girls that I didn’t know their names.  
“Yeah, but that’s not til spring.”  
“It will be much sooner than you expect.” Luna said.  
“Second years and third years, go to bed!” Someone yelled.  
“I think I shall go to bed as well. Calypso, Annabeth, if you would assist me?” She had a pile of books on her lap. I took five and Calypso took the rest. Luna stood and took a couple of books from each of us.  
“Yeah, I’m going to go to bed too. We’ve still got class tomorrow. Slowly, the seventh and eighth year girls filtered out of the common room. When we got to our dorm, having dropped Luna’s books off, it was filled with chatter.  
“The bathroom’s free, if you want to shower.” Lisa called over the noise, then went back to her conversation. Calypso and I headed inside, and I was suddenly had the impulse to grab my phone, which had sat in my bag for months. Despite Leo making them ‘magic-proof’, all the magic at Hogwarts- residue from centuries of classes- blocked them from working long distance.  
“Iris, show me Thalia Grace.” Calypso said lowly.   
“Oh, hey, Calypso, Annabeth. Do you need something?”  
“Just checking up on everyone.” Calypso said. She Iris-Messaged almost everyone while I actually took a shower, so it wouldn’t seem suspicious.   
“I left Percy for you, but Draco seemed certain they’re safe.” Calypso said as we switched spots. “But I'm not sure were Thalia was. It looked like she was outside.” Why would she be outside? None of us were on Quidditch teams, and we had no reason to be out at this time. The feeling in my gut pulsed.  
“I'm going to IM Percy. Where did you leave the drachmas?” I couldn't see them on the counter.   
“Just there, right where you're standing.” There was nothing there. We were out of drachmas.  
My stomach dropped.  
There was no way this would end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm just on a roll this month, I guess. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I promise that you will know soon enough what's going on. I know this chapter is really short, but the next will be longer (hopefully).
> 
> Thanks for reading,  
> Phoenix


	26. Chapter 25: Nathaniel Curt Lillian and a Cold Winter's Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco has big dreams for the future, most involving his boyfriend.
> 
> Thalia would really like not to go outside, please, and what even is the password?
> 
> Percy would like not to pass out again.

{Draco’s POV}  
I grabbed Harry after Leo caught us and pulled him to a new closet.  
“Are we just going to spend our day making out?” Harry asked. “I’m not complaining, not at all, but why just making out?”  
“Because Leo keeps catching us and I like annoying him. Also, it is a personal goal of mine to make out with you in every closet in Hogwarts. We’ve completed the second floor today and we’re halfway done with the third.” I told him seriously. Harry laughed.  
“That’s a great goal, Draco.”  
“I’m aware,” I told him. “Now let’s stop talking and start kissing.” Harry and I skipped dinner to finish the third-floor closets.  
“What do you say we spend every other Saturday making out in closets for the rest of the year?” I asked as we walked to Gryffindor Tower.  
“Maybe you’ll have to double your goal.” Harry teased, eyes dark.   
“Perhaps I will,” I kissed across his jaw and up to his lips. “But not tonight, my love. It is a Monday evening, after all.”  
“Yes, and some of us need to get into the common room,” Hermione said. I turned to face her and Ginny, both standing with their arms folded across their chests.  
“I shall let you lovely ladies in, of course.” I began. I was feeling dramatic. “And I see now you must take my darling Harry with you. You must promise me that no harm will come to him while I’m away.”  
“Merlin, Draco, you speak as if you’re going to war.” Ginny rolled her eyes. “Yes, we will protect Harry, because he’s died and still has the urge to throw himself into any fight ever.”  
“I am going far away, my love, but these amazing women will protect you,” I told Harry. He rolled his eyes and kissed me.  
“If you are going far away, you must have a long journey. Better to begin now than to wait.” He grinned at the end, taking the sting out.  
“I shall see you soon, my love.” I bowed and kissed his hand before leaving. Ginny and Hermione were laughing at our display, but they herded Harry into the common room anyway. I hurried down the Tower steps and took a few shortcuts to the dungeons. On the way there, between shortcuts, I saw Percy and Thalia walking to our common room. I debated joining them, but they seemed to be having a serious discussion, so I went back to my shortcuts.  
“Draco!” Thalia had seen me.  
“Hey!”   
“Were you and Harry making out in the closets at dinner?” Percy asked.  
“Yes.” I was not ashamed of it.  
“Well, don’t miss too many meals. Harry doesn’t look like he can afford it.” Thalia warned jokingly.  
“And neither do you, Draco,” Percy added. “Well, you’ll let you get back to whatever it is you’re doing.”  
“I’m just going to the common room,” I said. “I know a few shortcuts. I can show you…?” they exchanged a glance.  
“No, sorry, Draco,” Thalia said. “We have things we need to talk about. And walking in the halls is better than if we took shortcuts. People have enough questions about us as it is.”  
“Alright. Next time, then.” I said. I wondered what it was they needed to talk about so badly that they couldn’t say it in front of me, but decided it didn’t matter. I continued my shortcuts until I found my favorite, one I’d found in first year: A slide. It leads right to the dungeons. I hadn’t taken the stairs alone since I’d found it. It was just a fast (and fun) as the first time I’d done it, and I was in the common room talking to Pansy and Blaise before Percy and Thalia were even in the dungeon.

{Thalia’s POV}  
“So, Thalia, what do you say?”  
“Percy, you know Annabeth might ask me.”  
“I know. And just so you know, Grover’s my best man. There’s no way anyone else would be.” Percy said. This wedding stuff was so complicated. What were you supposed to do when the couple had all the same friends?  
“This is going to be a hard wedding to plan,” I said. “Just because you and Annabeth have the same friend group.”  
“Luckily for us, it’s a pretty big friend group.” They flashed me a grin. “We’ll figure something out. We always do.”  
“True,” I said. “We don’t have long before curfew, we should hurry. “ We picked up our pace.  
“We should have taken Draco up on those shortcuts,” Percy said. “We’d already be there.”  
“Yeah.” I agreed. If we were caught out in the halls and given detention right before the holidays, we’d never hear the end of it. We were just in the dungeons when someone called out to us.  
“I’m glad to see someone else is running late.” A boy I’d never seen before, wearing a Slytherin tie, approached us. He couldn’t be an eighth year, as a glance at Percy confirmed that neither of us knew him. But how had we never noticed him? I was careful to keep this off my face.  
“I’m Nathaniel Curt Lillian, fourth year.” He said. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Did you get lost? That’s okay. I still get lost, and I’ve been here for four years.” He seemed nice enough, but that didn’t have to mean anything.  
“Can I walk with you to the common room?” He asked.  
“Sure, Nathaniel. I’m Percy.” Percy smiled at him and held out their hand.  
“I’m Thalia,” I said as they shook hands. We walked in silence for a while.  
“What’s your favorite subject, Nathaniel?” Percy asked.  
“I like Potions and Charms. Transfiguration is fun too. Do you think I’ll get to take the class you’re teaching?”  
“If the professors decide to keep it around. We likely won’t be back to teach it next year though.” Percy said. I glanced at them. It was true, I didn’t like being away from camp for so long. This year was different, we were students too, and stayed in the dorms. If we did come back to teach, all of us, we’d know the students for several years, and it paid well.  
“Why not? I hear you’re good teachers, everyone likes you.” Nathaniel started with the puppy eyes.  
“We still have school in America,” Percy said. “And we don’t even know if we’ll be invited back to teach.”  
“You will be,” Nathaniel said. “We better hurry, though. The curfew might be later for you, but I’ve got to be in the common room in fifteen minutes.” How had we taken that long?  
“It’s not later for us, not unless we have to go to a staff meeting or something,” Percy said. Luckily we were only a few minutes away from the common room.  
“Huh. I thought it was,” Nathaniel said.  
“I wish it was,” I said without thinking. Percy shot me a glare.  
“At our school, the oldest or most qualified person in every dorm is allowed to select curfew,” Percy explained. “Sometimes it is different for the younger kids, but usually it's not.”  
“That makes sense,” Nathaniel checked his watch. Why he needed a watch when he could cast a spell to check the time, I had no idea. “I wish we did that here. Like, have the seventh years set curfew for everyone.” Percy looked at me. That would be a disaster. Most of the seventh years would be too stressed by N.E.W.TS to really enforce the curfews, especially at the end of the year. I was stressed by N.E.W.TS and it meant nothing for my future!  
“Well, we better hurry up,” Percy said.  
“Or,” Nathaniel began, “We could sneak out.” He grinned at us, but there was something in that I didn’t like.  
“That doesn’t seem like the best idea, Nathaniel,” Percy said, glancing at me. Not to mention that we’re teachers. If we’re caught with a student- especially an underage student- sneaking out at night, it would not go well for anyone.  
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Nathaniel begged. He tried the puppy eyes, but that would go nowhere with us.  
“You can sneak out if you want, Nathaniel,” I told him. “But we won’t be coming with you, and I don’t think it’s the best idea. You’ll get detention if you’re caught, and it’s cold outside.” He considered that for a moment and shrugged.  
“I don’t mind detention, and that’s what we have heating charms for.” That grin was back, worse than before. Nathaniel stopped walking, Percy and I leaving him behind as we continued.  
“Come on, you two,” He whined. “I thought you were supposed to be fun.” Percy went to say something, but I nudged them lightly and shook my head. I wanted to ignore Nathaniel- if we made a point of not reacting, maybe he’d give it up.   
“Please, Percy? Thalia?” He sounded petulant now. Percy and I almost turned the final corner when he started running to catch up.  
“Fine. Fine! I won’t go, then.” He huffed. Neither Percy nor I even looked at him.  
“Stop ignoring me!” He yelled. “Guys? Guys! Stop it!” He kept getting louder. I thought I saw the entrance flicker, as though someone had heard and was coming to help.  
“If you’re going to ignore me, then I’ll have to make you pay attention!” He screamed, and the flicker returned. I turned to face him, Percy doing the same. Nathaniel had his wand out and his face was dark red with anger.  
“Nathaniel put your wand down,” Percy said. “The common room’s right there, let's go in before we miss curfew.”  
“Stop talking like that! In your stupid accent!” Nathaniel yelled. I draw my wand, keeping it hidden behind my robes. I could only hope Percy did the same.  
“Nathaniel put your wand down. We don’t want to fight you.” I warned as Percy and I moved backward slowly. If we could reach the common room, we could get help.  
“No! I just wanted to have fun! You ruined that!” He yelled. Percy and I hit the wall, but neither of us were willing to turn around- not without a shield to protect us. Nathaniel was going to do something crazy. I cast, wordlessly, and watched the blue shield spread across the hallway. Percy whispered the password desperately, but nothing happened. Then I remembered- it had changed today. We didn’t know the new one, and everyone inside the common room either couldn’t hear us or didn’t care enough to come find out what was going on.   
We were screwed.  
~*~   
Nathaniel was firing off spells, trying to break the shield. It crackled but didn’t fall. Percy cast a shield of their own, and with a double layer, I felt a bit safer. Not much, because the likelihood of him getting through the shields and hurting one of us before we could cast another was high. My shield was almost out. One more spell and it would shatter.  
“Come out from behind your shield! Come on, cowards, fight me!” Nathaniel screamed. His voice echoed.  
“Can you cast a Patronus?” Percy asked me, low. “If you can, we can get a message to someone- anyone.”  
“I can, but my shield-”  
“Yours is almost gone anyway. Mine’s hardly taken any hits, and I can maintain for a few minutes.” I let my shield drop and watched as Percy’s pulsed, changing color from blue to a deep gray. What it meant, I didn’t know, but I could hardly see Nathaniel anymore, and it seemed thicker, almost.  
“Cast it, Thalia. It’ll go back to normal before long.” I cast my Patronus, a hawk, and whispered to it. I sent it to Draco. Hopefully, he’d come barreling out of the common room in a minute. I cast another and sent it Reyna with a similar message. The shield in front of me rippled and lightened back to blue. I glanced at Percy and could see the strain on their face. I cast another shield just as Percy’s failed. Nathaniel’s spell hit their shoulder, and they started bleeding. I glanced at the entrance. Where was Draco? Percy summoned water and cast another shield.   
We couldn’t keep doing this. One of us was going to collapse eventually, even with extra stamina from training. We didn't keep up spells for this long. Guess we’d all have to practice that. They ‘cleaned’ their wound- the cutting spell hadn’t gone deep, thankfully.   
“You’re wounded- give it up! Stop hiding!” Nathaniel yelled gleefully.  
“Watch your shield, Thals, not me.” Percy rotated their shoulder carefully and cast yet another shield. Sure enough, mine looked like it was about to break. I carefully cast another and dispelled the first, but it didn’t matter. Nathaniel was firing off spells, yelling at us when he wasn’t.  
“If you had just listened to me, you wouldn’t be in this situation!” He shrieked. “You shouldn’t have ignored me!” Percy’s shield cracked, and they struggled for a minute to cast another one. That was long enough. My shield faded away.  
The white light only served to remind me of my father.

{Percy’s POV}  
Thalia collapsed, and it was all I could do to keep my shield up enough to pull her behind it. Draco still hadn’t come. I didn’t know who else Thalia had sent the Patronus too, but they weren’t here either.  
“Give up, Jackson!” I’d never told him my last name. “Your friend is hurt. Follow me and she won’t get hurt more.” I raised my hands after tucking my wand back into a pocket discreetly. I cast another spell- this one a tracking spell, on myself, linked to the common room. So whatever happened, someone would be able to find me.  
“Bring her with you.” Nathaniel grinned. “We’re going outside. Let’s see how well she does in the cold, hmm?” Gods, this kid really thought he was all that, didn’t he? I picked Thalia up and followed him. If I needed to, I could tackle him, but putting Thalia down was something he’d notice.  
“And if you try anything, remember this.” He cast another spell on Thalia. “If you attack me, and I get hurt, whatever happens to me falls sevenfold on her.”  
“The Mark of Cain.” I breathed.  
“Yes. But instead of you taking the brunt of it, she would.” Right. Yeah, now I couldn’t do anything. Well, I wouldn’t do anything. Nathaniel smirked like he knew this.   
“Come on, Percy, it’s going to be fun!” He knew secret tunnels- maybe the very ones Draco had offered to show us earlier.  
“Not many people know about these. I might have to Obliviate you later so my secret stays hidden.” Nathaniel mused. We slipped out the of the Great Hall, but not before I spotted a tabby cat following us.  
~*~  
“Would you like a warming charm, Jackson?” Nathaniel taunted. He’d put five on himself. “It’s lucky for me you can’t do wandless magic.” Little did he know that I could. Draco had taught all of us how, and it really came in handy when we felt lazy, or, you know, something like this happened.  
“Leave her here,” Nathaniel demanded abruptly. “I’m not taking her into the forest with us. The spell works long distance, just so you know.” I set Thalia down on the edge of the forest.   
“I’ll be nice and cast a few warming spells on her.” Well, that would help, given that I’d put some on her too. Hopefully they wouldn’t wear off before someone found her, because I couldn’t send for help right now.  
“Wouldn’t it be fun, Percy, if she died of hypothermia before we even got back? How are you doing, by the way? Not too cold, I hope.” He laughed like this was all a joke. To him it probably was.  
“I asked you a question, Percy. I expect you to answer.” He growled.  
“I’m fine,” I told him, staring straight ahead. I had a feeling I knew what this was about.  
“Because you didn’t know, I’ll let it go this time. But next time, you will be punished.” Physical pain didn’t scare me, and he needed me awake or he would have knocked me out and levitated me to wherever we’re going. I followed him deeper and deeper into the forest, far deeper than we’d ever gone ourselves- during the day and in a group. Despite the shadows and the movement I kept catching out of the corner of my eye, Nathaniel seemed confident in where we were going, that we wouldn’t be attacked.  
“There’s a set of stairs up ahead.” He warned. “And there’s something at the top I’d like you to see.” What if he’d captured everyone else earlier, and Thalia and I were the last?  
That didn’t make sense. He would have had me bring Thalia with me if that was the case. When I reached the top, I saw what he meant.

{Thalia’s POV}  
I woke to someone shaking me.  
“Percy…?”   
“No. Headmistress McGonagall. That boy is in for it when we find him.”  
“So you have someone looking for them already? Where’s Percy? What happened?” McGonagall sighed.   
“You were unconscious when I started following Percy and Nathaniel. All I know is that they’re in the woods now. You’re lucky; it seems that even without their wand, Percy managed to cast a few warming spells on you. Still, you need to get inside. Nathaniel, I fear, knows these woods like no other. He’s been caught sneaking out several times this month and sneaking back in more than that. Tomorrow, when it’s light, we’ll go find them.”   
“But Percy could be dead by then!”  
“I know,” McGonagall said sadly. “But they do know how to defend themself, even when-” The air flickered in front of us, and Calypso appeared.   
“Thalia! Are you alright?”  
“Yes, I’m fine, why?”  
“No time to explain- Annabeth and I have to hurry. See you later!” She cut the connection, leaving McGonagall and me alone in the dark.  
“Come, child, we must hurry. Then you can tell me what happened.” I still wanted to go search for Percy, but McGonagall wasn’t taking no for an answer.  
“Poppy!” After they were certain I didn’t have hypothermia, I told them what had happened.   
“And now Nathaniel has Percy out there and I don’t know-” I doubled over. My stomach was bleeding.  
“You’ve been cursed, Thalia.” Madame Pomfrey told me. I can remove it, and you’ll start to heal at the same time. Otherwise, you won’t heal until-”  
“Until what?” I demanded.   
“Until whoever laid the curse on you heals. It’s likely Nathaniel.” McGonagall said.  
“That’s how he got Percy out there, then. If Percy attacked Nathaniel and overpowered him, I would be hurt far worse than Nathaniel.”  
“We have to hurry,” I said, startling the older women. “Take the curse off me. I’m getting my friends and going after them. Now.”  
“Thalia, you can’t. This is something for the professors to do. You’re just a child. You can’t be older than sixteen.” Madame Pomfrey insisted.  
“I am, in fact, older than sixteen.” I took a second to figure out how old I would be if not for being a Hunter. Technically I’m five years old than Annabeth, so twenty-two? “I’m twenty-two.”  
“You’re too old to be here then.” Madame Pomfrey frowned.  
“I’m a professor as well as a student,” I shot back. “And besides, most if not all of my friends are seventeen. Now get rid of the curse on me before I call Will to do it.”  
“Will wouldn’t know how to remove this curse, my dear. Now, if you wouldn’t mind…” Madame Pomfrey fussed for a minute, muttering what I assumed to be the countercurse under her breath. “There. That should undo the curse, and you’ll heal up quickly. Only the actual injury- what Nathaniel got- will remain.” I nodded as I watched the hole in my gut disappear, to be replaced by a bruise the size of Percy’s fist.  
“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’ll be leaving now.” I started to get up from my bed and was pushed back down.  
“You are not leaving this bed until the sun rises, young lady. I’ll see you in the morning, Headmistress.” McGonagall left. “The beds are charmed to let me know if someone gets out before they are supposed to without reason, Thalia. Don’t think you can sneak out.” So I was stuck here, while Percy was in a forbidden forest with someone they thought they couldn’t hurt.

{Percy’s POV}  
Daedalus's mark stood out clearly, etched into the stone, glowing a faint blue. I hid my surprise at seeing it again and traded it for confusion.  
“You brought me out here to see a… triangle?” I asked.  
“No, you idiot, it’s the Greek mark for Delta! It’s glowing, and it means something. You know what it is.”  
“Okay, so it’s Delta, and it glows. I don’t see what you want here. This is a magical forest. Maybe a student carved it into the stone and thought it’d be fun to make it glow in the dark.”  
“Students aren’t allowed out here,” Nathaniel growled.  
“We’re out here, aren’t we?”  
“Never mind that! Tell me what it does!”  
“I don’t know what it does. Why would I?”  
“Because you’re not who you say you are.”  
“Then who am I?”  
“Something more than a wizard.”  
“More…? What human being is more than a wizard?” I asked.  
“You are! You’re something else! You’re… you’re…” He’d never guess. “Okay, you’re probably just a wizard, but you have to know what that means! In fact, you read Greek books! There’s no way you don’t! And for that…” He cast something nonverbally. Pain rushed through me for an endless moment, electricity far stronger than the lightning Thalia would ever use on me knocking me to my knees. Rough stone collided with my face, flashes of color and dark spots spiraling in front of my eyes. When I came to again, I was shaking, piercing pain spreading across my body. I could hardly focus enough to notice that Nathaniel had conjured himself a hammock and was laying in it.  
“You’ve been out for a few minutes. You’ll have some nasty burn scars.” I lunged at him, not even knowing why, and drove my fist into his stomach. He doubled over, the air knocked out of him, and then he started laughing. I regretted doing it. My body was pulsing, everything shaking, I couldn’t even stand properly, and the pain- I thought I knew pain. Now I was relearning it with every inch of my body.  
“Oh, Percy, you just killed our darling Thalia. She’s all alone, out in the cold, now bleeding out… And it’s all your fault.” Then I remembered why I hadn’t knocked him out yet.  
“Are you willing to cooperate now, Percy? Or do you need another dose of pain?” I glared at him. “Tell me what the Delta symbol means, Percy. Go and touch it if you like.” I didn’t move. I knew what would happen if I touched it.  
“Oh, will touching it reveal something to me, Percy? Will it open a path?” Maybe I should open it and shove him in. Let him get lost so I could go back and help Thalia.  
“I know you know, Percy. I know. Now, come on, be a good hostage and tell me what I want to know.”  
“I’ve told you everything I know about the Delta symbol already, and my guesses as well,” I replied.   
“I’m disappointed, Percy. I thought we could surely reach an agreement.” He tutted and hit me with another spell. This one opened wounds all over my body, none of them too deep and all bleeding sluggishly.  
“Now, Percy, tell me. What is it that the Delta symbol is hiding?”  
“I don’t know. Likely nothing.” He alternated curses, switching between electrocuting me cutting me open until I passed out from pain. It didn’t take long, but that same pain always drew me back into the cold air.  
“I see that’s not going to work. Perhaps this will.” He drew his wand across his throat, leaving a thin line of blood behind.  
“This will kill Thalia soon enough if she isn’t dead already. Tell me what it is, and she has a chance to live.”  
“It marks a passageway! That’s all I know, I swear. Merlin, what are they going to do to me?” Nathaniel healed his throat.   
“Thalia should still be alive. For now. What type of passageway?”  
“I don’t know, they didn’t tell me, I’m not high enough in the rankings for that-” I started babbling, saying whatever.  
“So you are something else, and you’re more scared of someone else to answer to me.” I didn't react. “You’re a liar, Percy. I don’t like liars. I think you can a bit more, don’t you?” He starting sending focused jolts of electricity all over my body, alternating between that leaving deeper cuts all over.   
“What’s this scar on your face, Percy? How’d you get it?” He traced the faint scar Thalia had left a few months ago. By the time I’d healed the wound, it was too late; it’d already started scarring.  
“I bet it was for disobeying. You don’t seem to listen too well.” He grew bored with his game and knocked me out.

{Thalia’s POV}  
The sun had just started to rise when I woke up. After checking that I wasn’t going to get scolded for doing magic in bed, I sent a Patronus to all the demigods. I pulled the curtains when Draco IM’d me.   
“Thalia, what…? I woke up to two Patronuses in my dorm. What happened last night?” In a low voice, I told him.  
“I know everyone in Slytherin House. That kid- he was okay his first three years, but I haven’t seen a lot of him this year. I thought he might have been killed or taken out of Hogwarts for the first couple weeks of school. I’ll see what I can find out, but I can’t promise it’ll be much. As soon as you’re released, come here. We can talk elsewhere.” I nodded and waved my hand through the mist. I had a few other calls I needed to make.

{Percy’s POV}   
When I woke up, light was assaulting my face. I’d been out long enough for the sun to rise, and I’d been moved. I sat up slowly, careful not to make myself bleed again. The shooting pain of multiple, gods, dozens, of electrocutions took this as a cue to return. I shook my head to clear it and only ended up curling into a tight ball to avoid the pain.  
“Good morning, Percy. Do you think anyone will notice we’re gone?” I thought of Thalia, who- if I’d been wrong- would be dead in the snow by now. And it was my fault. Someone would find her body, laying serenely, covered in blood and frozen, the snow a sparkling red. I hoped it wasn't Annabeth or Reyna. Gods, I hoped they didn't find her.  
“Surely someone will notice Thalia- What do you think killed her? Blood loss or the cold? I think the blood loss would have. The bruise you left on my stomach is pretty spectacular, after all.” Nathaniel grinned. He knew exactly what he was doing. “Now that everyone’s awake- or will be, soon enough- we need to get moving, Percy. Tell me, what does the Delta symbol do?” I shook my head slowly, slowly enough to avoid seeing spots or passing out again.  
“I-I- I don’t know, Nathaniel. I don’t know. They don’t tell me these things.”  
“Can you find out?”  
“They’ll kill me if I ask. They’ll kill me if they find out I’ve given you this much.”  
“And Thalia? What did she know?” He leaned forward, all but salivating over it.  
“I don’t know.” I shook my head again. “She was my superior officer.” I had already started talking about her as though she was dead.  
“I don’t believe you.” I wondered what it was with this guy and electrocution, even by magical means. The shocks barely even registered. I was just… numb. Thalia had died alone, bleeding out by my actions. I was burned and bleeding and unlikely to make it out of this alive, unless I attacked Nathaniel, and I didn’t have the strength. Not like this. Somewhere, the pain flared back up. I screamed soundlessly, convulsing, each movement sending me deeper and deeper into my head to avoid feeling.  
“Hey! You aren’t allowed to pass out! Wake up!” The last thing I felt was a powerful jet of water hitting me in the face and rolling down my body. This was going to be fun.

{Thalia’s POV}  
“You are free to go, Thalia.” Madame Pomfrey smiled sweetly at me as if I hadn’t been held here against my will all night. I was an adult, for gods’ sake!   
“Thanks.”   
“Going for breakfast?”  
“Yeah,” I answered without looking at her. It was time to find Draco, get everyone together, and make a plan.  
~*~  
“So you were outside last night.” Annabeth murmured to me.  
“Yeah. Not by choice, I assure you. It was cold. It’s still cold.”  
“We need to do this, though. Even if we don’t want to.” The two of us alone couldn’t go after Percy- we didn’t know if it was still just Nathaniel or if someone had joined them. We didn’t even know if they were still in the Forest.  
Clarisse was the last to arrive.   
“So Percy’s been taken?” She asked gruffly.  
“Yeah, and we have no way of finding them..” Frank said.  
“We have tracking spells, you know. Even a Point-Me would work.” Draco said. “And Percy’s smarter than you think. There was something outside the common room today. I think they cast a linked tracking spell on themself. If we go there, we should be able to find out where they went.”  
“Why didn’t any of us think of that?” Piper asked, visibly frustrated. Draco smiled gently.  
“None of you have much experience in the wizarding world, and none of you left from the Slytherin common room today.”  
“Well, let’s go now, then,” Calypso said.  
“We can’t all go,” Draco told her. “Thalia and I are the only other Slytherins here. I’ll go with her to the common room- say she forgot her stuff and I offered to get it together for her while she changed if we get questioned.” Annabeth was nodding along.  
“The rest of us will go to breakfast. McGonagall should announce this morning that two students went missing last night, with suspected foul play and coercion. We’ll act surprised when we find out who it is missing. Surprised and upset. We’ll ask Thalia questions- everyone will, she’s the last person to have seen Percy and Nathaniel alive-” Her voice broke and she stopped talking for a minute; Hazel and I put our arms around her. “And we’ll insist on being part of the search party they’ll put together.”  
“That makes sense,” Nico said. “Nice plan, Annabeth. We’ll have Percy back in no time.”   
“We’ll find them, Annabeth, or they’ll find us.” Leo put in. “They do have a way of getting out of the worst situations.”  
“They certainly have a talent for it,” Jason remarked. I glanced at him. He was leaning against the doorway and met my eyes steadily.  
“Thalia, you and Draco should arrive a few minutes after the announcement,” Reyna said quietly. “McGonagall will say something about you, too, and then it gives me the chance to run up to you, with everyone else following at a good distance. Like it’s the first time we’ve seen you all morning. It will play things up a bit.”   
“Playing things up is always fun,” Will said. “But we can’t overdo it.”  
“Let’s just see what happens,” Draco said as I wrapped my other arm around Reyna. “By all means, act as if you heard Thalia was injured- because she will say that- for the first time this morning. She’s your girlfriend, Reyna, and everyone knows it. Use that to your advantage.”  
“So we’re agreed, then?” Annabeth glanced around the room. Everyone nodded.  
“So let’s get going,” I said with a confidence I did not feel. “We don’t need to put our hands in the middle and cheer before we go, right?” Everyone laughed, and I relaxed a little. This was going to work out fine. It had to.

{Percy’s POV}  
I woke up a few minutes later, as I was dripping wet. The wounds visible hadn’t healed- all for the best- but everything underneath my clothes? It was healed, or at least it no longer hurt to the agonizing degree it did originally. I felt a lot more aware. I could take Nathaniel down now. I didn’t have to worry about hurting Thalia, because I’d already killed her.  
“Ah, there you are, Percy. It’s good to see you woke up faster this time.” Nathaniel grinned from his hammock at the top of the stairs. “Now, why don’t you come up here and touch the Delta symbol?”  
“I don’t know if I can get up,” I whispered, playing up my weakness.  
“I said get up here, you get up here. I don’t want to hurt you again.” I dragged myself up the stairs as slowly as possible. It turned out the weakness I had faked was not faked at all. Moving shot spikes up my arms and legs, fading into my torso. But I managed, moving slower with each stair.  
“Glad to see you managed to make your way up here,” Nathaniel smirked at me. “Now, either you figure out real fast what the Delta symbol does, or you tell me and let me do it myself. You only have until the search party arrives.”  
“They have a search party out?”  
“Yeah, your friends along with the headmistress. They get here, you die.” They were going to find Thalia’s body, and everyone would be there to see it. I pulled myself up on the stone and hobbled over to the Delta symbol. The glow was less visible now. I pressed my hands around it, more to brace myself than anything. I leaned in carefully, and sighed when it didn’t hurt too badly. It was nothing I hadn’t fought with before.  
“So, what do you know?”  
“I haven’t learned anything,” I said. “They tell me next to nothing as it is, and now I’m injured and can’t even stand right.”   
“Well, figure it out.” He glared at me, disgusted by my weakness. I straightened up as he went back to his book- Transfiguration. Yeah, like he’d be allowed back at Hogwarts ever again. Or anywhere. I pretended to look at it for a minute, moving closer to him slowly. He’d assume I was doing as I was told. It’s all I’d done the entire time.

{Thalia’s POV}  
Draco and I were ready and waiting as McGonagall started speaking.  
“Last night, we had two students go missing, and another was found on the grounds, stunned and wounded. Thalia will thankfully make a full recovery, and was released from the hospital wing this morning.” I could hear people talking; they hadn’t seen me at all since last night, and I was sure everyone was reacting appropriately. Draco walked in ahead of me before the talk quieted down. Then I stepped inside the Great Hall.  
“Sorry I’m late,” I said as everyone stared. Reyna got up first, speedwalking to me and throwing her arms around me.   
“I didn’t even know you were in the hospital wing.” She told me. I knew everyone else had heard too.  
“Well, I’m doing better now. I don’t even have hypothermia.” I joked weakly. McGonagall cleared her throat.  
“If everyone could return to their seats?” I saw now that the demigods had all stood up to see me. I walked Reyna to her seat and then went to the Slytherin table.  
“The missing students eighth year Percy Jackson and fourth year Nathaniel Lillian. We suspect foul play in Mr. Jackson’s disappearance, and are operating under the assumption that Mr. Lillian attacked Mr. Jackson and is the reason Thalia was hurt last night.” We all reacted like we were supposed to; like we had planned.  
“Silence!” McGonagall called. “A search party shall be arranged to find the missing students. That is not debatable. Mr. Jackson’s friends shall all be going, I believe they will riot otherwise, and myself. If anyone else- anyone seventeen or older- should like to join, they are certainly welcome to. Please, enjoy your breakfast the best you can after this news.” She sat down, and I saw Annabeth bury her head in her arms, pushing away her plate. At the end of breakfast, McGonagall stood up again.  
“Anyone in the search party, join me by the doors properly attired and with a warming charming or two on.” She swept away, and I stood up at once. I was going, and the whole school could know it. No one got to take my cousin and get away with it.  
We headed out. It was just us and McGonagall; everyone had taken one look at our faces and scattered.  
“Let me do a Point-Me spell, and we’ll be off,” McGonagall said.  
“No need, Headmistress,” Draco said smoothly. “Percy did a linked tracking spell on themself. You’ll be able to follow that, provided that at least one of you has been to the source- the common room entrance. Luckily for you, Thalia tapped into it. You’ll be able to find Percy without any trouble.”  
“Then let’s go, I suppose.” The Point-Me spell would only have gotten us so far anyway. It showed general direction, which was great, but we’d have to keep recasting it.  
‘We’re coming, Percy. Hang in there.’ I thought, keeping it to myself. I alone knew what spells Nathaniel had been throwing around last night- and I didn’t want anyone more worried than they already were.

{Percy’s POV}  
I lunged at Nathaniel, and he laughed, shoving me away easily. I grit my teeth to keep from screaming- my legs were rioting and my arms weren’t any better.   
“You couldn’t even get up the stairs, and you think you’re strong enough to fight me? You couldn't cast a Lumos if you tried. Get back to work.” I did, moving slowly again. He’d noticed, then. He’d been watching the whole time.  
“As a bit of motivation,” Nathaniel began, “I think I’ll give you a little taste of what’ll happen if the search party finds us.” This spell was different; no more electrocution for me. I hoped. Instead, the spell was directed at my legs and feet, shattering the bones. I collapsed, unable to even make a sound. Fireworks exploded in my brain, my arms, my torso while the bomb department threw a party in my legs. I thought I heard someone calling my name, but I was too far away to even think of responding.

{Thalia’s POV}  
It took at least an hour to find them, even with the tracking spell. They were deep in the woods, hidden, and when we could see them, we all started yelling. Percy folded in on themself. Whatever spell Nathaniel had just cast had managled their legs.  
“So nice of you to join us,” Nathaniel smirked, smug, and I wanted to punch it off his face. “Unfortunately for you, Percy here won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Isn’t that right, Percy?” They’d passed out, and now that we were just below them, I could see burns and cuts all over their skin. I didn’t want to know what was beneath their clothes.  
“Wake up, Percy!” Nathaniel cast Aguamenti, and Percy woke up slowly. Their legs were still a mess, and nothing visible had healed- it wouldn’t with Nathaniel here- but I prayed to the gods that everything we couldn’t see was healing. Nathaniel hit them again, just to be cruel.   
Percy’s gaze fell on me first.   
“I don’t know what you’ve done to make me hallucinate, Nathaniel, but it’s working.” Did they not think we would come find them?  
Nathaniel turned to us with a grin. “Have I mentioned that Percy here thinks you’re dead, Thalia? It was all your fault, wasn’t it, Percy? Anyway, since the rest of you are here, maybe you can tell me what the Delta symbol does. If you don’t, I’ll kill Percy.” We fanned out slowly, while Nathaniel’s back was to us. A few glances and the plan was in place. Or we were on the same few pages, anyway.  
“Well? Got anything to say?” He turned back to us. “I must say, Headmistress, that it’s good to see you.” I threw up a shield- but not around me. Annabeth stepped forward.  
“What did you think would happen, Nathaniel? Did you think we wouldn't come?”  
“I was counting on it.” He had to have watched too many movies. “And you have five minutes to tell me. Perhaps you simply need…” He trailed off and turned to Percy instead.   
“I wonder, Percy, how much this hurts.” He cast a spell I didn’t recognize- but it electrocuted Percy. They couldn’t even make a sound, flopping like a fish on the ground even after they passed out again. Hazel managed to use the Mist and pull Percy back behind her. Behind us, where they were safe.   
“How-” We all cast a shield around Will and Percy, ignoring Nathaniel. Of course, that’s what had gotten us into this mess in the first place.   
“You can’t think you’ll win, Nathaniel.” McGonagall began. “It’s twelve on one.” Will wouldn’t be joining the fight unless he had to. He’d be busy healing Percy.  
“You think I don’t know spells you’ve never even heard of? You don’t think I planned for this?” He threw up a shield as we all used a variety of spells, some harsher than others. It crackled, and with another volley, fell. We attacked before he could get full shield back up, injuring him.   
“We’re not going to kill him,” McGonagall said. “Just subdue him. If he gets severely injured while we’re subduing him… Well, he fought back, didn’t he?” He was fighting back, too, the stupid kid. He was firing off spells that we blocked most of the time. Green, red, yellow, white, even blue, flashed up and down the steps as we got closer and closer to him. He managed to hide for a minute and get a couple of good shields up, but we all knew they wouldn’t last long. If anything, it gave us a chance to get closer to him; he wasn’t firing off spells at all. We surrounded him.  
“Just tell me what the Delta symbol does and I’ll leave forever.” He tried.  
“Nope,” Annabeth said. “How about we break his shields?”  
“He’s all yours, Annabeth.” We fired off four volleys of spells and broke through. Annabeth got a few good cutting spells in before the rest of us tried our hand at it. Jason and I even summoned a little lightning. When we had Nathaniel tied up (and bleeding and unconscious, just for good measure), we hurried down the stairs were Will waited with Percy.  
“They’ll be out for a while if we don’t wake them up,” Will said. “And we’re not going to wake them up until they’re in a bed.  
“Can’t we just dump them in the lake?” Jason asked. Will shook his head.  
“Their legs and feet are completely shattered. If we did that, they’d heal, but the bones are a jumbled mess, so they’d heal wrong. We’d just have rebreak their legs. We could pour water over their upper body, though.”  
“If we’re going to do that, then we need to do it before we get to the hospital wing,” McGonagall said. “Poppy will insist on treating them the magical way- she doesn’t know you’re demigods.”  
“Then we have no choice.” Will used a gentle stream on water on Percy’s arms and face, and the worst of the cuts and burns started to heal.  
“But she’ll have to see the memories, right?” Will asked suddenly. “So we can’t just heal everything on their upper body. That’s too suspicious.”  
“He’s right. This is as much as he, a trainee, would know how to do. But how do we explain their torso?” McGonagall said. I hated this. I thought we should just heal them right away.  
“We’ll figure something out. It’s cold out here, let’s go.”

{Percy’s POV}  
I woke up warm, wrapped in blankets.   
“Hey, Percy.” Annabeth. “You’ve been out for a couple of days. How are you feeling?” I blinked at her and smiled.  
“Better than I did two days ago.” I joked. “I feel fine.” I lifted a hand to hold hers and noticed the lighter patches of skin, very different from my normal skin tone.  
“Those will heal up in a few days. We’ve been soaking your arms in water and giving you ambrosia when Pomfrey isn’t looking. You might have a few scars, but…”  
“But what?” I asked softly.  
“That’s the worst of it on your upper body,” Annabeth whispered. I pushed myself up.   
“Annabeth, what’s wrong?”  
“I better get Will, and you’ll want to see Thalia.”  
“Annabeth, Thalia’s dead.”  
“She’s not, Percy. McGonagall found her and brought her in; they were able to remove the curse. She’s fine, just had a bruise for a day. I’m going to get Will. I’ll be back in a minute.”  
“No need, Annabeth. I heard you talking.” Will walked over and checked my pulse. “Eat this. Annabeth, have you told them?”  
“Not yet. I don’t know how.”  
“Percy, your legs- can you feel this at all?” Will put his hand on my leg over the blanket.   
“Yeah.” Will sighed. “Did you think I wouldn’t be able to?”  
“Percy, whatever spell Nathaniel used on your legs completely shattered the bones. We can’t heal them using water until we get the bones back in place completely. Madame Pomfrey hardly knows what to do. We’ve been taking it slow, so we don't hurt you more.”  
“So it’ll be a while before I can walk? That’s fine, there are other ways of getting around.”   
“Percy, if this doesn’t work, you might never walk again,” Will said it quickly. “I’m sorry, Percy, but it’s the way things are. Unless we have godly interference, it’s almost certain you won’t.” I remained silent.  
How was I going to protect everyone if I couldn’t even walk?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I know this is a longer chapter. I did think about splitting it up into two but my friend vetoed that. Anyway, was it worth the three-chapter lead-up and all the POV switches? Comment your thoughts, as always. 
> 
> Thanks for reading,  
> Phoenix


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